Marcus Mariota says he’ll be 100 percent by training camp

The key to the Tennessee Titans’ hopes of earning the AFC South title is Marcus Mariota. Not only does he have to continue progressing on the field, he needs to remain healthy throughout the duration of the season.

Mariota has not finished a full 16-game slate in each of his first two seasons in the NFL. The former No. 2 overall pick missed the final game of last season after suffering a broken leg.

Now, months removed from that most-recent injury, Mariota is claiming that he’s set to be 100 percent by the time training camp gets going later this month.

“I feel good,” Mariota said, via the Titans’ official website. “My body is getting to the point where it is close to 100 percent, and once training camp rolls around, I’ll be good to go.”

Mariota took part in all 10 Titans OTA sessions recently and looks to be almost fully recovered from the injury. However, being 100 percent and ready to go for training camp is a larger story. The great news here is that Mariota’s return to the field came a lot sooner than most people expected.

Tennessee finished last season with a surprising 9-7 mark. For his part, the former Oregon standout continued to perform at a high level when on the field. Mariota completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 3,426 yards with 28 total touchdowns and just nine interceptions on the season.

With the Titans hoping to claim a division title, his ability to remain healthy will be the biggest question mark for the team in 2017. As of now, it looks pretty darn good on that front.