TAMPA, Fla. -- They will be forever linked due to their positions in the 2015 NFL draft, but Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota don't view themselves as rivals.
After Mariota and the Tennessee Titans defeated Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 42-14 on Sunday, the two quarterbacks were singing each other's praises.
Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, was talking about how well Mariota played. Mariota was saying he's confident Winston will bounce back from a shaky outing.
Mariota easily had the better day. He completed 13 of 16 passes for 209 yards with four touchdowns (all in the first half).
"He had an amazing game," Winston said. "He's a great quarterback."
Winston had a dismal debut. He completed 16 of 33 passes for 210 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and was sacked four times. One of Winston's interceptions was returned for a touchdown and the other set up a Tennessee score.
"Jamies is one of those guys, he's a great competitor," Mariota said. "Even in college, they [were] never out of it. Jameis is probably going to bounce back from this. I'm sure he'll be ready to go next week."
The way the two quarterbacks began their careers, it's easy to question if the Bucs made the right call with the first pick.
"When somebody plays as great as he did, of course you're going to say that," Winston said. "But it's not about how you start. It's about how you finish. That's one thing we do here. Improving over the season is going to be a big thing for us."