Marcus Mariota turned the ball over twice in his preseason debut.(Photo: Jason Getz, USA TODAY Sports)
ATLANTA Perhaps the best thing that could have happened to Marcus Mariota in his preseason debut was an interception and a fumble.
Maybe things had been just a little too easy so far in training camp for Mariota, the No. 2 pick in the draft and the Tennessee Titans starting quarterback, who was garnering plenty of praise after two weeks worth of practices in Nashville without an interception.
Perfection is just not a reality in the NFL, and certainly not for rookie quarterbacks. And Mariota quickly learned Friday night against the Atlanta Falcons that what happens in games even exhibition ones is far different than even the most intense of practices.
Mariotas first series ended with an interception, when Atlanta linebacker Justin Durant sat in a zone and picked off a screen pass.
Mariotas next possession wasnt much better, as he held onto the ball just long enough while trying to work through his progressions that Atlanta defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux was able swat the ball out of Mariotas right hand before the quarterback could attempt a throw. Linebacker Paul Worrilow returned the fumble for a touchdown.
Mariota seethed when he returned to the sideline, unaccustomed to such mistakes. His head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, described Mariota as "p****d."
"You lose games because of turnovers,"Mariota said. "I was upset with myself because both I could have controlled."
The interception and the fumble will be replayed and reviewed once the Titans return to Nashville, but so will what came next: A 90-yard touchdown drive in which Mariota went 5-for-5, including a pair of third-down conversions. Mariota exited the game early in the second quarter having completed 7-of-8 passes for 94 yards.
"Itwas almost like he was, "Ninety-yard touchdown drive, that"s just kind of what"s supposed to happen," "Tennessees veteran backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst told USA TODAY Sports. "His poise is unlike most rookie quarterbacks I"ve seen."
Fridays game in Atlanta was Mariotas chance to show on a larger scale his progress in becoming an all-around NFL quarterback. Despite monster numbers and a Heisman Trophy at the University of Oregon, little of what he did there was immediately translatable to the NFL, and his arrival in Tennessee meant running a huddle and taking snaps from under center for the first time.
He did both plenty against the Falconsand in three drivesdidnt scramble once.
"He"s really good at all that stuff. I meanreally good at it,"Whitehurst said. "Hey, just as a football fan, I had questions too. I don"t know what they"re running in college, you know? But he picked it. He just learned itin, like, two days. There are some advanced things he"s doing, that he"s not a rookie to me. I don"t look at him as a rookie anymore. After about two weeks being around him, I don"t think anybody does."
Yet there were still a series of firsts Mariota hadto experience in a live NFL game, and more of those will come in September when the regular season begins. For as much as coaches try to replicate game scenarios in practice, a true pass rush is impossible when touching the quarterback is off limits.
Mariota took his first real hit (a sack by defensive end Tyson Jackson) and his first real flub (the Durant interception). Coaches and veteran teammates could tell Mariota that NFL games move faster, that defenses are more relentless, but Mariota needed to see it. He needed to feel it. And he needed to recover from it.
"It was nice to see Marcus bounce back the way he did,"Whisenhunt said.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
GALLERY: BEST OF THE PRESEASON
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