Tannehill Ruled Out For Texans Game

An illness combined with an ankle injury to sideline the veteran quarterback Sunday against the Houston Texans. Rookie Malik Willis will make his first NFL start.

NASHVILLE – Ryan Tannehill’s health issues now extend beyond just his ankle. And they're too much for him to overcome.

The Tennessee Titans (4-2) on Saturday ruled out their quarterback for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans (1-4-1) because of the combination of a sprained ankle sustained last Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts and an illness, which became an issue later in the week. The NFL Network reported that Tannehill was unable to take part in the day's walk-through because of the illness.

As a result, Malik Willis will be the Titans’ starter Sunday at Houston.

Willis worked almost exclusively with the starting offense this week as Tannehill worked to recover from the ankle injury. The third-round draft pick out of Liberty has been on the field for 20 offensive snaps this season, most in mop-up duty during a Week 2 loss at Buffalo.

The only other quarterback on the roster is Logan Woodside, who is on the practice squad and on Saturday was named a standard elevation the gameday roster.

“I thought (Willis) took advantage of his opportunities in trying to lead and function as our quarterback,” coach Mike Vrabel said Friday.

Tannehill was listed as questionable on Friday. He was a limited participant in Thursday’s practice after having sat out on Wednesday. He did not practice again on Friday when the illness was first included as part of the official NFL injury report.

Tannehill has started 49 straight games (a franchise record for quarterbacks) since he replaced Marcus Mariota six games into the 2019 season.

With his next start – when it comes – he will join Mariota, George Blanda, Dan Pastorini, Warren Moon and Steve McNair as the only quarterbacks in franchise history with at least 50 total starts.

Tannehill’s familiarity with the offense minimized the need for a lot of practice time and left open the possibility that he could play.

“He has executed a lot of these plays,” Vrabel said. “I would say with 90 percent of them, he has had a lot of experience running and operating.

“… We're going to try to give it as much time as we possibly can. We feel we're prepared with whatever may happen.”

Time apparently ran out a day later.