Mariota opened the preseason by completing two of three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown while adding a seven-yard scramble in his lone drive of work during Thursday's 31-17 loss to Green Bay.
Mariota looked sharp despite the underwhelming cast of receivers around him, completing a 38-yard pass to Nick Williams before hitting Darius Jennings for a four-yard score. Expected to have more freedom under new head coach Mike Vrabel, the fourth-year quarterback out of Oregon looks primed for a bounce-back campaign after posting a disappointing 13:15 touchdown to interception ratio last season. His ability to lead the offense down the field without top two receivers Rishard Matthews (undisclosed) or Corey Davis (undisclosed) is certainly encouraging.