NFL star suffers brutal ankle injury — carted off the field

The Tennessee Titans playoff hopes may have taken a big hit on Saturday afternoon, as promising young QB Marcus Mariota was carted off the field in the second half.

While rolling to his left against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mariota was sacked and appeared to injure his right ankle.

According to NFL.com, Mariota had an air cast put on his injured ankle before he was carted off the field, which is bad news for the former No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick.

Marcus Mariota is out with an ankle injury.

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 24, 2016

The team confirmed on Twitter that Mariota would not return to Saturday's game against the Titans' AFC South rival:

At this point, it looks to be a lost cause for the Titans anyway. Tennessee trailed the 2-12 Jaguars 25-10 at the time of the early-fourth quarter injury.

Based on replays of the injury, it may be a while before Mariota takes the field for the Titans again, playoffs or not:

Mariota had only completed eight of 20 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown before the injury. Matt Cassel replaced him at quarterback.

Coming into the Week 16 matchup against the Jaguars, Mariota had thrown for 3,327 yards and 25 touchdowns. He'd also added 346 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

The Titans finish the regular season on Sunday, Jan. 1, against the Houston Texans, possibly with a division title on the line. Not having Mariota available will be a big blow for Tennessee's dwindling playoff hopes.