If Marcus Mariota has learned anything over the past couple of seasons, it was a lesson taught by Southern California rapper Suga Free almost 30 years ago.
“If you stay ready,” Suga Free said on the 1997 track of the same name, “You ain’t got to get ready.”
The Commanders backup quarterback will be filling in for starter Jayden Daniels this Sunday against the defending champion Seahawks after Daniels dislocated his left elbow last week. This will be a bit of déjà vu for Mariota, as he started eight games — and appeared in another three — last season due to various injuries to Daniels.
The 12-year veteran said he’s learned over the seasons that always being prepared to play makes the suddenness of being thrust into the starting lineup more manageable.
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“Being in this position for the last seven years or so in my career, you never know when your number’s gonna be called,” Mariota said this week. “So, I just try to treat every week like I’m the starter and I just kind of mentally prepare that way so that if it does happen, the transition’s relatively easy.”
That’s of course easier said than done with the Commanders at 0-2 and welcoming a 2-0 Seattle team that beat them 38-14 last season. But in a league that lives by the creed “next man up,” Mariota is expected to come and produce however he can.
After the Cowboys game, head coach Dan Quinn said the team would rally around Mariota, and that they want to make the transition from Daniels to him as seamless as possible. Nearly everyone on the roster has emphasized how much faith and trust they have in Mariota.
The key to keeping this season from getting too far off track with Sunday’s game and a trip to London next week to play the Colts is for Mariota to play within himself and trust his teammates. This is a new thought process for Mariota. In the past he’d feel he needed to come in, put the offense on his back and play the hero. That would at times lead to disastrous results.
“Stepping in some of those games, you feel like you have to kind of make a play and sometimes you overstress yourself — and now you’re making a mistake, you’re fumbling the football, you’re throwing a pick,” Mariota said.
“I took a lot of those lessons and with what happened on the game on Sunday, and was able to kind of stay within myself, play the game that I know how to play, and it really kind of led to some success,” he continued. “So, the more that I can kind of focus on those types of things, not put the cape on as people say, and just allow everybody else in the offense to work for us, I think the better that I’ll play and the better the position for our offense.”
This week, Mariota has held conversations with the receivers about route mechanics and ways to exploit the Seattle defense, and he went over pass protection with the running backs. Mariota was late to his first presser as the starter on Wednesday while putting in extra work after practice.
“We have full confidence in what he can do,” wide receiver Terry McLaurin said. “The way he runs the offense is very succinct. The way he communicates in the huddle is very clear. And he brings a calm to the huddle that is expected from a guy like Marcus.”
When receiver Stefon Diggs first signed with the team in early August, he spent a lot of time running plays with Mariota and the second unit as he got acclimated.
“He’s a good quarterback. He’s been in this league for a long time. Got a lot of confidence in him,” said Diggs, who caught Mariota’s lone touchdown in Dallas. “As a receiver, you just got to go in with the right mindset of getting open, catching the ball. It’s still football at the end of the day and you want to be open for him.”
Quinn said on Monday there will be no “pullback” on the playbook with Mariota, while offensive coordinator David Blough said he can’t wait to “turn him loose.” Mariota will give his input on what works for him and what doesn’t, but he doesn’t expect things to be fully catered to his needs.
“Part of the backup role is you kinda fill that need, right? You’re gonna like a lot of the stuff that Jay likes,” Mariota said. “There is a little bit of differences here and there, but the role as the backup is when you get called upon, it’s not a huge difference.”
In 11 appearances last season, including the eight games he started, Mariota completed 61.2% of his passes for 1,695 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. But he was considerably better in plays where he took a three-step dropback, identified his first read and got the ball out.
On passes thrown 2.5 seconds or less following the snap, Mariota completed 71% of 107 passes for 607 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions, according to NFL Research. His 92.7 passer rating on quick throws was similar to starters Justin Herbert (93.5) and Trevor Lawrence (93.5).
“I really think of myself as a point guard. The more that I can get these guys the ball, the playmakers, especially faster, the more space they get, the more that they can do with it,” Mariota said. “I used to joke like they tackle the guy with the ball, so the more that I can get it out of my hand, by all means.”
Against a Seattle defense that allows the fewest yards per play (3.8) in the NFL, the Commanders will need to lean on Mariota’s strengths. But Washington can take deep shots when given the opening. Blough said Mariota’s experience means he knows when the ball should leave his hands and at what trajectory the ball should take. He averaged the furthest intended air yards (10.2) of any quarterback last season, according to NFL Research.
Facing a single-high safety against the Raiders in Week 3 last season, he came out of his dropback and hit McLaurin for a 56-yard touchdown. Seven weeks later the Lions sent a six-man blitz at Mariota, who set his feet, took a bump from a defender and hit Treylon Burks in stride for a 37-yard grab.
On slower-developing plays, Mariota is adept at moving around the pocket to buy time. He exhibited that on multiple occasions against the Cowboys last week, evading the Dallas pass rush.
“The second play has always been sometimes your biggest plays, your most explosive plays, and the quarterback position has transitioned into those types of players,” Mariota said. “I’ve always kind of felt like I’ve been that way.”
Broken plays can also lead to mistakes, like during Week 13 against Denver last season when he got pressured in the pocket and had nowhere to throw the ball. Rather than toss it out of bounds and give the offense a chance on third down, he instead threw it into double coverage and was intercepted.
But he believes he’s learned from those mistakes as he once again takes the reins in Washington.
“I thought last week, being able to come in and not overstress and just be like, ‘Hey, just go and play within the system,’” Mariota said. “That was a big step for me because I think as a backup you’re like, ‘I gotta go make a play. I gotta try to help these teams win.’”
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