The Tennessee Titans will start Joshua Dobbs at quarterback in Saturday’s de facto AFC South 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) will win the division title.
The Titans (7-9) have lost six straight games, including Thursday night against the Dallas Cowboys 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 has been ineffective in three starts.
Willis, selected in the third round of the 2022 draft, has failed to pass for 100 yards or complete 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 having three passes intercepted. He has rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Titans starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill is out for the rest 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 on Thursday, meaning he will have to miss at least three games before he can return.
The Jaguars (8-8) have won four straight games entering Saturday’s game.
ESPN’s Turron Davenport contributed to this report.
