Tennessee Titans

Mariota anxious for first training camp with Titans

Published Jul. 31, 2015 1:56 a.m. ET

foxsports

Summer break is over and Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota is more than ready to start his first NFL training camp.

“Everything I’ve done in my lifetime in my career as a football player has built up to this moment, to get ready to make the most of it,” Mariota said, via the Tennessean. “So I’m excited. I can’t wait to get things going.”

The Heisman Trophy winner, the second overall pick in April's draft, will take part in his first camp practice Friday when the Titans take the field at Saint Thomas Sports Park. Mariota knows the pace and physicality will be different than what he saw during OTAs and minicamp.

“For me, it’s just about continuing to prepare mentally and physically,” Mariota said. “Now we’re going to start getting into some situational football, whether that’s third-and-longs, red-zone stuff, things that are really important in the middle of a game. For me, I want to be able to win those competitive drills and make sure that as an offense, we’re growing and progressing.”

Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt said the team will work to ensure they don't overload Mariota with too much of the offense early on in camp.

“Just like any other team, we’ve got millions of great plays you think are going to work,” Whisenhunt said. “But it doesn’t do you any good if you‘ve got too many. You’ve got to find that balance of giving him enough, yet being diverse enough that it keeps teams off balance a little bit."

(h/t The Tennessean)