We already knew that Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariotahad to win over Taylor Lewan.
But does he also have some work to do with receivers Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter as well?
This is a video taken from the Titans' draft party last Thursday at LP Field in Nashville and by the look of their immediate reactions, Wright and Hunter don't seem very pleased with the pick.
According to The Tennessean, Hunter, the one who immediately sat down and turned his back after the pick was made, sent out the following message on Twitter before deleting it:
"The reason we reacted like we did was bc we already knew what pick we were getting. We are very excited to have Marcus with us. He's a (part) of the Titans family."
Both, per The Tennessean, were part of Zach Mettenberger's offseason workouts.
Like we mentioned in this Lewan piece, there's an inherent danger with letting an incumbent starter run offseason workouts, especially if you plan on drafting the man who will take his job. It gives him more time to rally the troops and forge relationships.
While not one of the players has any choice in who starts, it does stack the deck a little against a rookie that comes with high hopes.
Maybe there is nothing to this and it was just a practical joke of sorts. Maybe the players were just letting out some last-minute frustration.
Later on that day, Wright tried to walk the mini-controversy back into a non-story with his explanation of the events.
"I have no reason to be upset," Wright said, via The Tennessean. "Me personally, I have nothing against Marcus Mariota. I have nothing against the pick. Period. My reaction was like that because to me, it was like someone like Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin (III) getting picked. You knew who it was going to be, so there was nothing to get excited about it. Our fans, they're the ones who can get excited. I am too old to be jumping up and down and hollering. I do that every day, and lift weights."
Wright said that Hunter sat down in frustration because the pair bet $200 on the pick. Apparently Hunter was banking on a trade.
"Justin wasn't happy and sat down because he doesn't like giving his money away," Wright said.
But if there is any lingering issues between Mariota and three solid young players who represent part of the team's core moving forward, coach Ken Whisenhunt had better address it now.
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