Mariota vs. Mettenberger: No battle for Titans QB job

Zach Mettenberger played along, but he couldn't keep from smiling when discussing the "battle" between himself and rookie Marcus Mariota.

"I would fight him to the death right now," Mettenberger said of Mariota. "Give me an axe and give him a mace or something, and we'll do it."

In reality, there will be no fight for the starting quarterback spot with the Titans — on or off the field.

The plan is for Mariota, the team's second overall pick, to be the starter in Week One at Tampa Bay. Mettenberger, who started six games last season for the Titans, will be the backup.

Ken Whisenhunt made that clear the day the Titans selected Mariota, heading a quarterback controversy off at the pass. The majority of the first-team reps this offseason will go to Mariota, the coach said. So much for mystery, and drama.

"This is way out of my box, being as up front as I've been," Whisenhunt said. "I don't foresee (a controversy)."

On Tuesday, when the Titans kicked off their first of 10 organized team activities, everything went as expected. Mariota lined up with the first group during a running walk-through that was open to media. Mettenberger was next in line in that drill, and the order was the same in individual drills.

While some practice observers paid attention to how much the quarterbacks communicated on the field, what they said — along with teammates — provided no ammunition to anyone looking for a smoking gun. The soft-spoken Hawaiian and the sarcastic southerner from LSU have hardly been at each other's throats since being paired together last month.

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"Both of them are handling it the way you're supposed to," center Brian Schwenke said. "I kind of expected some hurt feelings or whatever. I thought I'd see something. But I haven't seen that at all. Everything has gone extremely smooth between the two of them.

"I think Mett and Marcus are both adults, and good people. They are both competitive and know the situation, and there is no reason to be a poor sport about it or Marcus being standoffish about it."

Mariota, for the record, said things have gone well between himself and Mettenberger since arriving in town after the draft. In the locker room, their stalls are side-by-side.

"We both have the mentality that we just want this team to get better, and competition will drive that at every position," Mariota said. "It allows you to be a better football team … As we continue to move forward we will continue to back each other up and do our best to compete against each other."

Mettenberger, meanwhile, seems to have softened his verbiage compared to earlier in the offseason, when he vowed to "beat out" any competition that might arrive via the draft. That was before the Titans picked Mariota. After the Titans selected the Heisman Trophy winner from Oregon, Mettenberger said he was being playful when he made a "fight to death" comment when discussing Mariota with an ESPN reporter via text.

On Tuesday, Mettenberger stood at his locker and said he's ready to compete. He did little to fan the flames.

He vowed to help Mariota, but to a point. Mettenberger, smiling again, said, "I won't give away all my secrets.

"A few years from now I don't want to look back and regret something. So I am going to continue to work my tail off and do everything I have been doing the last couple of years and regardless of what happens I am going to try and be the best player I can be.

"I have always embraced the underdog role I guess, even in college I wasn't one of the top name guys even in my conference and being the sixth-round pick I kind of always had everything stacked against me. Really, all I can do is work hard and keep playing my butt off and that is something people know that I do.

"Regardless of what happens I'll still be a very well-respected backup and do my job and still compete."

In his first practice with the veterans, Mariota got his first real taste of NFL speed on Tuesday. He acknowledged it was different than what he saw in college.

Mariota threw an interception and admitted he fumbled once during team drills, but otherwise he had a pretty solid first outing. He looked poised. Whisenhunt said Mariota did "some good and some bad" on day one.

The Titans veterans also seemed impressed with Mariota, especially his speed. He connected on some nice throws downfield, and took off on a few occasions during practice.

"He is faster than I thought," linebacker Zach Brown said of Mariota. "He is an athletic quarterback. He didn't win the Heisman for nothing.

"One time he took off — I was guarding Delanie (Walker) — and I turned around and I was like, 'Where is he?' He is fast. He impressed me. He is still a rookie and he has to learn. But he is a cool guy. I haven't seen him get frustrated yet."

Mariota and the Titans will work again on Wednesday at Saint Thomas Sports Park. Mariota has been excused for Thursday's session to attend an NFLPA event for rookies in Los Angeles.

His maturation process will continue throughout the offseason.

"When you draft a guy in the first round, second pick, you always want to see what he is going to look like," Walker said. "I thought (Mariota) did a nice job. It's early, the first day of OTAs.

"He has more to show and we will all be watching to see what he brings to the table."

Reach Jim Wyatt at 259-8015 or on Twitter @jwyattsports