Chip Kelly has been linked to the Titans, but the organization itself is hesitant over his history of injured quarterbacks, according to a report.
Kelly was understandably considered by many to be a logical candidate to take over the Titans job, with his former quarterback at Oregon, Marcus Mariota, already entrenched there. On paper, it looks like a marriage that should at least be explored. However, not only has Kelly not received an interview from Tennessee, but there have been no real concrete links between Kelly and the Titans job.
The explanation? According to NFL.com’s Albert Breer, one reason the Titans are wary of Kelly is that he presided over a number of quarterback injuries in Philadelphia, a fate the team badly wants to avoid with Mariota. Breer notes that Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and Sam Bradford all suffered injuries on Kelly’s watch. Also recall that one of the reasons former Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt was fired in the first place was reportedly that he failed to address the fact that Titans quarterbacks repeatedly took a large number of hits. Mariota already dealt with injury during his rookie season, and the Titans apparently fear that bringing in Kelly would just lead to a repeat of that issue.
The thing about mobile quarterbacks like Mariota – and Vick, for that matter – is they’re inevitably going to take a few hits from time to time. It’s debatable how much of that was really Kelly’s fault. That said, between this and his frequently-cited inability to connect with players, perhaps Kelly will have to beg for an NFL job after all.
