Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was carted off the field with an air cast on his right ankle after an awkward tackle.
Entering Week 16, the Tennessee Titans were heavily in the hunt to win the AFC South. After an abysmal 2015 season, it was quite the turnaround for the Nashville-based franchise to sit at 8-6. However, they may have just watched their playoff hopes go up in flames in the matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. That’s because of a scary scene regarding franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Late in the third quarter, Mariota was looking for receivers downfield when the pocket started collapsing on him. As that happened, he tried to escape the pocket, but was dragged down by his ankles. That’s where the injury occurred that left him on the ground unable to get up.
We will include video of the injury at the end of this post. Fair warning, it is not for the easily made queasy. So if you qualify in that regard, I would recommend not watching. After the play, Mariota was left on the field teary-eyed before being carted off and put into an air cast.
He was immediately ruled out of the game, which makes sense given the cart and air cast.
For those with strong stomachs, here is a look at the injury. His right ankle does not look good as he goes to the ground:
Careful - this is Marcus Mariota's foot/ankle injury. You have time to pause. Hope it's not bad https://t.co/SZaa043Ood
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 24, 2016
This is such a crushing blow to the Titans. Though you don’t like to speculate, everything about the scene points to this being a serious injury.
Next: NFL Quarterback Power Rankings for Week 16
For a team fighting for a postseason berth and a player on the verge of becoming a star, this simply stinks. Certainly we hope that Mariota can recover from the injury and get back on the field at 100 percent sooner rather than later.