Silver Minings: Marcus Mariota still has the mindset of a starting QB

Las Vegas Raiders backup QB Marcus Mariota says he still has the mindset as a starter even though he’s currently No. 2 behind Derek Carr, he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an interview this week.

“My vision’s always been to be a starter and to be successful at that position. That has not changed, even in the circumstances that I’m in right now.

“I understand my role, I understand that I am a key component to Derek’s success. I have to help him, support him in every way that I can. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t get better, (or ) I can’t learn ... I know that I have an opportunity to get better and work with a really awesome offensive staff. I’ll be able to grow in that sense. So at the end of the day, my goal is always to be a starter and to be successful at it. I’m working towards that.”

After he suffered a broken leg in Week 16 of the 2016 season, the former Tennessee Titans quarterback admitted: “I went through a point in my career where I really didn’t believe that I was as good as I was.” Mariota ultimately lost the Titans’ starting job to Ryan Tannehill.

All being said, Mariota — who turns 28 in October — seems pretty happy with where he ended up. “First and foremost we’re very blessed. I think the opportunity to be an NFL player, to play a game for a living, something we grew up loving, I’ll never take that for granted. To me that’s priceless, “ he said.

“Secondly, I truly believe in the staff. I think Coach Gruden, Coach Oly (offensive coordinator Greg Olson ) and the rest of the offense is a great team. For me I felt I learned so much from last season. To have that opportunity as a player to go back, to learn some more, to absorb what’s going on, if the future is with the Raiders, great, if not, I feel like the information and things that I was able to experience will help propel me wherever I go.”

In other Raiders’ links:

• The San Francisco 49ers hosted former Raiders defensive end Arden Key on Tuesday, according to our friends over at Niners Nation. Key was released by Las Vegas on April 15 after he totaled just three sacks in three seasons.
• Josh Dubow at the AP marked a draft anniversary on Tuesday reminding us that 19 years ago, the Raiders picked Philip Buchanon 17th overall and Napoleon Harris 23rd. Hall of Famer Ed Reed was picked 24th.
• In his latest mock draft, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager has the Raiders taking Penn State LB Micah Parsons with the No. 17 pick. “Parsons would be a perfect fit for a team that already added Yannick Ngakoue this offseason.”
• In collaboration with Disney and the NFL, Junk Food Clothing is taking Allegiant Stadium’s Death Star nickname to a whole new level with the launch of Star Wars-themed Raiders vintage tees.
• Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review Journal tweeted that the Raiders’ team facility parking lot was packed on Tuesday. “Definitely a good number of players taking advantage of the weight room/field access that is allowed during this phase of OTA’s,” he deduced.
• NFL Media and Hulu have announced a new multi-year carriage agreement to bring NFL Network and NFL RedZone to Hulu’s live TV subscription streaming service from Aug. 1.