The Sports Xchange

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Even when they run the ball effectively, the Tennessee Titans aren’t running very often. No one is feeling the effects of that more than 2014 second-round pick Bishop Sankey, who has gone from leading the team with 74 rushing yards in the opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to getting no carries Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt said there are packages for each running back and that the Titans simply didn’t run any packages for Sankey on Sunday.

“He didn’t get the opportunities yesterday just because of the way the game went,” Whisenhunt said Monday. “That’s how it goes sometimes, unfortunately, because of specific packages. Dexter (McCluster) got more yesterday because he was in there with the two-minute and some of the other personnel that we used.”

Sankey has 159 yards on 39 carries, while McCluster has 176 on 35 carries and Antonio Andrews has 138 yards on 38 attempts, despite missing the first two games with a hamstring injury.

–The Titans plan to re-evaluate quarterback Marcus Mariota on Tuesday to determine if he can return to the practice field and possibly return to the lineup this week. Mariota was held out Sunday with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

“We’ll see (Tuesday) where he is, and that’ll give us an idea going forward this week about practicing and where he fits in that,” Whisenhunt said.

–Zach Mettenberger had an up-and-down day filling in for Mariota on Sunday. He threw one touchdown pass but was intercepted twice, including on the final pass, snuffing out the Titans’ chances to tie or win the game, which ended up a 10-7 loss to the Falcons. Mettenberger perhaps got a bit greedy on the pass picked off by safety Robenson Therezie, as he went downfield for wide receiver Kendall Wright instead of taking the safer play to tight end Delanie Walker.

“It was a poor decision by me. I should have hit Delanie underneath in that situation,” Mettenberger said. “All we needed was 12 yards to get in field-goal range and get to overtime. If I had made a better throw, maybe Kendall gets it.”

NOTES: WR Harry Douglas (ribs) has a chance to return to the lineup this week after being out as the Titans face his old team, the Falcons. … C Andy Gallik (concussion) was knocked out of his first career start and now is in the concussion protocol, which puts his status for his week in jeopardy. … CB Jason McCourty (hamstring) left the game with an injury that he sustained in the first half before exiting in the second half for good. … S Michael Griffin (knee) has a Grade 2 lateral collateral ligament sprain in his left knee. He was inactive Sunday, saying the knee “still felt loose.” He will test it again this week to see if he can return. … CB Perrish Cox (hamstring) is taking acupuncture treatments in an attempt to return from the injury. Cox initially was hurt a few weeks ago and then aggravated the hamstring early in the loss to the Dolphins and did not play against the Falcons.