The Sports Xchange

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, who has missed the past two games with the sprained MCL in his left knee, was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and is on track to return to the starting lineup this week against the Saints.

As for his health, Mariota said, “I felt good in practice. I did most of the drills. We’ll just have to see how it feels.”

Interim coach Mike Mularkey expects Mariota to start on Sunday, but the Titans will still cut down on his practice reps just to be safe.

“We’re approaching it that way, but we’re also being smart about it with the number of reps he’s getting. We didn’t go right in there and throw a full practice at him. He did a majority of it, but nothing like he’s been doing when he was healthy before the injury,” Mularkey said.

–Player reaction to Ken Whisenhunt’s firing was not out of the norm in terms of public comments.

“You’re trying to move forward in a positive light and trying to create a spark and do some things that we haven’t been able to do obviously. One-and-six (record) is not where we want to be. You hate to see somebody fired, and somebody lose their job,” cornerback Jason McCourty said. “Guys have been around Whiz for a year and a half and we see his passion and he’s a good coach, but this league is driven by production, and that production is wins and losses and we haven’t been doing a lot of winning.”

“You hate this for anyone. You know it’s a business and one day my day will come,” safety Michael Griffin said. “Just knowing outside of football, telling your family you have no job or got to move again and everyday life things that goes on behind the scenes has to be the toughest. I will say I have a lot of respect for Coach Whiz, and I wish him the best.”

–While no one publicly bashed Ken Whisenhunt after he was fired, there did seem to be a different feel at Wednesday’s practice, which had a spirited feel to it and a sense that perhaps the change would be for the better and put the 1-6 Titans in a different mindset.

Mularkey set the tone with a 7:15 a.m. meeting on Wednesday morning to tell players what he expects going forward. He also called all the team’s first- and second-year players together following his first practice to tell them that they have a clean slate with him, but that it is time for them to grow up and contribute.

“He sees a lot of young guys that are gonna get a chance to play, and we just need to grow up and mature and make plays when we go out there,” said rookie receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who is near the top of the list of players the Titans will be counting on.

NOTES: RB Antonio Andrews, who had 64 yards on 16 carries last week, is in store for a lot more work as the Titans try to run the football more to help protect Marcus Mariota. Mike Mularkey said Andrews will be his starting running back. … CB Jason McCourty (groin), who was a question mark last week with a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice – he did play Sunday vs. the Texans – was out on Wednesday. McCourty missed the first couple of games this season due to groin surgery. … WR Harry Douglas (ribs) was back on the practice field on Wednesday after missing two games with a rib cartilage injury. He is expected to play Sunday. … WR Kendall Wright (knee) suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee in Sunday’s loss to the Texans. After saying Monday his knee felt “horrible,” Wright missed practice on Wednesday and could be out of action this week. … CB Perrish Cox (hamstring) returned to practice on Wednesday and was a full participant with the anticipation of playing this weekend against the Saints. … CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (hamstring) missed practice on Wednesday after suffering a hamstring injury in Sunday’s loss in Houston. Wreh-Wilson was held out as a precaution, according to interim coach Mike Mularkey.