The Tennessee Titans will go into a must-win game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night with a quarterback who joined the team on Dec. 21 from the Detroit Lions’ practice squad.

Joshua Dobbs will start at quarterback in Tennessee’s regular-season finale, Titans coach Mike Vrabel said on Monday, rather than rookie Malik Willis.

MORE NFL:

· WILL JALEN HURTS RETURN TO RIGHT SLUMPING EAGLES THIS WEEK?

· DAMAR HAMLIN’S HEARTBEAT RESTORED ON FIELD AFTER CARDIAC ARREST

· JARRETT STIDHAM SETS RAIDERS’ RECORD IN HIS FIRST START

“Josh will be our quarterback,” Vrabel said. “I’ve talked to both quarterbacks and let them know that Josh will be our quarterback for this week, and then Malik has to continue to prepare like a starter. I’m fairly confident Malik’s going to do something to help us win in this football game, and so just hopeful that he’ll – and I know he will – continue to prepare as he has and continue to improve throughout practice.”

Tennessee had a choice to make at quarterback because its No. 1 QB, Ryan Tannehill, sustained a season-ending ankle injury in a 17-14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 18.

A third-round draft choice from Liberty, where he transferred after two seasons at Auburn, Willis started in a 17-14 loss to the Houston Texans on Dec. 18. He completed 14-of-23 passes for 99 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions and ran for 43 yards and one touchdown on seven carries.

Willis also had started a 17-10 victory over the Texans on Oct. 30 and a 20-17 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 6 when Tannehill was sidelined by another injury.

In those games, he completed 11-of-26 passes for 135 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and ran for 52 yards on 13 carries.

“I think everybody has to be ready every day they come to work to try to put the team first, to try to continue to improve,” Vrabel said about Willis in the backup role again. “His attitude’s been great since he’s been here, since I’ve gotten to know him.”

Signed from the Lions with Tannehill injured, Dobbs had thrown 17 passes in six NFL regular-season games since entering the league as a fourth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017 before he made his first start against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night in a game that had no bearing on the Titans’ playoff chances.

Dobbs completed 20-of-39 passes for 232 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran three times for 12 yards in a 27-13 loss to Dallas.

The outcome against the Cowboys extended Tennessee’s losing streak to six games, and the Titans have scored more than 16 points in only one of those contests – a 36-22 loss to Jacksonville on Dec. 11.

With five victories in their past six games, the Jaguars have overtaken the slumping Titans at the top of the AFC South standings. Tennessee has tumbled to a 7-9 record while Jacksonville has surged to 8-8.

On the final weekend of the regular season, the Titans will have the opportunity to catch the Jaguars at 7:15 p.m. CST Saturday at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes will televise the game.

The winner of the game will get the AFC South’s spot in the postseason and host a first-round playoff game. If the teams finish tied, Tennessee would have a better division record than the Jaguars and get the playoff spot.

Jacksonville is coming off a 31-3 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon. The Titans’ previous game was on Thursday night, and Tennessee kept several of its top players off the field, including running back Derrick Henry.

“I think it can just be helpful with how we use it,” Vrabel said of the difference in the teams’ time between games. “Hopeful some of those guys that were recovering or treating or whatever they were doing are going to be able to help us this week, and they’ll only be able to help us if they play well and we execute. That’s really what this game comes down to. Jacksonville’s playing at a high level and they’re playing with a lot of speed in all three phases, so it’ll only matter in how we play, but, hopefully we’ve taken advantage of the time.”

The previous time that Tennessee sidelined Henry to save him for a win-and-in regular-season finale, the former Alabama All-American ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-14 victory over Houston on Dec. 29, 2019, and the Titans went on to the AFC Championship Game.

Henry ran for 121 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries and caught three passes for 34 yards in Tennessee’s loss to Jacksonville last month. In 12 games against his hometown team, Henry has run for 1,264 yards and 15 touchdowns on 230 carries and caught 14 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.