FLOWERY BRANCH, GA. • Marcus Mariota is saying all the right things about mentoring Atlanta Falcons rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder.

Mariota would prefer to perform that mentoring role as the Falcons starter.

After starting a combined six games the past three seasons with Tennessee and Las Vegas, Mariota is determined to seize his opportunity to revive his career with the Falcons.

“For me personally the last couple of years was a learning opportunity,” Mariota said after Thursday’s offseason workout. “Previously when I was at Tennessee I had an opportunity to play. I was a starter. Being around that and then going and learning for a couple of years, I’m kind of hungry to get back on the field again.”

Mariota has been reunited with Falcons second-year coach Arthur Smith, the Titans’ former offensive coordinator. Mariota says his adjustment period in Atlanta has been “awesome” — including getting to know Ridder and the Falcons’ only returning quarterback, Feleipe Franks.

Mariota said he’s not reluctant to assume a mentoring role.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I kind of always view that relationship in the quarterback room as important and special. I always felt that a good quarterback room can allow everybody to be better and allow everybody to grow . ... At the end of the day if they’ve got questions or I’ve got questions, they’re a great set of eyes for me as well.”

Mariota came to the Titans with high expectations as the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner at Oregon who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft.

Mariota eventually lost the starting job at Tennessee to Ryan Tannehill before playing behind Derek Carr with the Raiders.

The Falcons signed Mariota to an $18.75 million, two-year deal on March 21 on the same day they traded 14-year starter Matt Ryan to Indianapolis. Atlanta then selected Ridder from Cincinnati in the third round of the draft.

The Ryan trade creates both opportunity and pressure for his successor. Mariota is the favorite to open the season as the starter.

Falcons wide receiver Bryan Edwards, who played with

Mariota in Las Vegas before being acquired in a trade on May 13, says he remembers Mariota’s poise when he replaced an injured Carr in Las Vegas. “Everybody was kind of panicking because Derek Carr is a tree; he’s rooted in there,” Edwards said. “Marcus was like ‘Hey man, I’ve been here before.’ You know, cool, calm and collected.”