Marcus Mariota: ‘Statistics don’t matter to me’

Marcus Mariota has impressed with a strong completion percentage during the preseason, but the solid stats mean little to him.

The Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback has completed 70.4 percent of his passes for 252 yards and an interception, but his team has gone 1-2 in the preseason.

“Statistics don’t matter to me, just as long as we win the football game,” Mariota said Monday via Titans Online. “As we go forward, I can always put the ball in better places, I can make better decisions and that is what I will continue to do, to try and improve in those areas.”

The former Oregon star has an idea of things he’d like to improve on.

“Taking care of the football, making better decision, hopefully putting our team in a better spot to get first downs,” Mariota said of things he wants to improve. “Just the operation of things, how to handle the play-clock and things like that. I thought we’ve handled it pretty well, but I can always get better at it.”

Mariota impressed at Titans camp by not throwing any interceptions. Though he threw one in his first preseason game and also was strip-sacked, he has really improved since.

We’re expecting Mariota to become a Pro Bowl quarterback throughout his career. That process might take a season or two, but he will do much better as a rookie than many expect. And he’ll prove all those ridiculous doubters wrong.