Marcus Mariota has certainly cooled down since his breakout performance in Week 1. The Tennessee Titans are coming off a loss to the Indianapolis Colts and while the two interceptions certainly clouded anything Mariota did in the game, the quarterback showed more improvement after three games. The Titans continue to be encouraged by the young players on the roster as they try not to overload them too quickly. That is the route being taken with Dorial Green-Beckham as many wonder why the receiver has just three catches on the season.
Green-Beckham faced plenty of hype heading into the season. Despite the controversial ending to his college career, Green-Beckham looked every bit the part of a top wide receiver in training camp and the preseason, but has barely been a factor since the real games began. With a talented group of receivers around him, Green-Beckham is getting lost in the shuffle as the Titans work to bring him in slowly.
"He's been productive," Whisenhunt said, via the team's website. "He made some plays [Sunday], and did a nice job on special teams again as the gunner. We'll continue to integrate DGB into the offense. I think the one thing you have to be careful about is overloading him, because right now he is on a good track. He is making progress and we are excited about seeing him make these plays. But if you think you can just put him in for 82 snaps, it is going to be a problem, so you just don't want to see him take a step back."
While Green-Beckham got a lot of in the preseason, through three games Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter are leading the group with Harry Douglas getting targets as well. Eventually, Green-Beckham will get worked more and more into the offense, but the team is preaching patience with the young star. Whisenhunt likes what he sees in Green-Beckham and his connection with Mariota.
The one aspect of the offense the Titans have yet to dive into is the running ability that he showed with the Oregon Ducks. Right now, the Titans are using Bishop Sankey and Dexter McCluster more than the legs of Mariota. Whisenhunt told the media that he likes the way Mariota is throwing the ball so he is torn with the play calling.
"I'm kind of torn with that," Whisenhunt said, via ESPN.com. "I mean, he's doing a pretty good job of throwing the football in the pocket and making some plays. You're right, there was an opportunity there on that one play where he just missed Delanie to run with it and probably run quite a long ways. But had the throw been to Delanie, Delanie probably would have run quite a long ways with it. I really think that that is going to come at some point."
