The Tennessee Titans will start Joshua Dobbs as quarterback in Saturday’s AFC South de facto title game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, coach Mike Vrabel announced Monday.
The winner of Saturday night’s game in Jacksonville (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC) wins the division title.
The Titans (7-9) have lost six straight games, including to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night when Dobbs made his first NFL start.
Dobbs completed 20 of 39 passes for 232 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the 27-13 loss.
The Titans turned to Dobbs over rookie Malik Willis, who was ineffective in three starts.
Willis, selected in the third round of the 2022 draft, has not managed to pass 100 yards or make a touchdown pass in any of his three starts in place of Tannehill. The Titans are 1-2 in his starts, despite Willis completing just 50.8% of his passes and intercepting three passes. He has rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Titans starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill is out for the remainder of the regular season and likely the postseason if Tennessee qualifies after undergoing surgery for a high right ankle sprain, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Titans officially placed Tannehill on injured reserve Thursday, meaning he will have to miss at least three games before he can return.
The Jaguars (8-8) won four straight games on Saturday.
ESPN’s Turron Davenport contributed to this report.