The Titans have a new offensive coordinator in Matt LaFleur entering 2018, and his main goal in early mini camps is to make sure quarterback Marcus Mariota knows what he’s doing in terms of learning the teams’ new offense.

Mariota is busy learning his latest NFL offense, and knows that it will be maybe the biggest offseason story line for the Titans as he gets set for his 4th season in the NFL.

“I’m just trying to grasp everything,” Mariota said Tuesday. “You don’t want to be opinionated on something that you have never run. I just try to go out there and execute, and do what they’re asking me to do. When we come back and we have to determine some of these things, and determine what we like and what we don’t like, I’ll definitely express my opinion.”

That’s exactly what LaFleur expects, even if he’s learning that getting the polite Mariota to speak up isn’t always easy.

“He’s an extremely bright guy,” LaFleur said. “He’s picked it up pretty quickly. Again, I think it’s more or less just having that confidence in being able to go out there and not think so much when he’s playing. So the more reps he’s been getting, the better he’s been doing.”

Having Marcus happy, and having the Titans firing all the way around on offense could lead to some big success for Tennessee in the 2018 season.

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Marcus Mariota is coming off his worst statistical season as a pro, a year in which he threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

He’s spending the offseason trying to correct that – by focusing on his feet, Jason Wolf of the Tennessean reports.

The Titans’ franchise quarterback has been working to widen his stance when throwing, altering his passing mechanics with the idea that greater balance leads to greater accuracy.

“It’s tough because it’s hard to break old habits,” Mariota said during the Titans’ first of three weeks of organized team activities at Saint Thomas Sports Park. “I think for a long time I’ve been playing with such a narrow base. If I’m able to accomplish, really, that goal of mine, to stay in a good solid base throughout, I think I can make a lot of the throws that are asked of me in this offense. As I continue to be out here, I’ve just got to continue to be mindful of it and find ways to just self-correct and just get better.”

Mariota said he began working on his footwork in February in California, and has continued to focus on developing a wider base with the blessing of the Titans’ new coaching staff.

The alteration has been endorsed by offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Pat O’Hara.

And the practice is long established.

“Quarterbacks in general, when you have a base, there’s a lot less moving parts, and it allows you to throw more accurately,” LaFleur told The Washington Post in 2010, when he was the Redskins’ quarterbacks coach, for a story about how he was working to improve the passing mechanics of Donovan McNabb.

The improved mechanics might, at times, repress his urge to scramble. Not only does remaining in a wider stance improve his accuracy, but also the speed at which he’s able to release the ball.

“I think the ball comes out a little faster,” Mariota said. “I think if I’m in a narrow base, it takes me an extra second to get to that (wider) base to be able to throw the football. If I’m in a good solid base (to begin with), I can throw at any point in time and make the throws on time.”

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