A fifth-round pick out of Arkansas barges into the Titans’ right guard battle

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans starting one rookie on offense this season has been likely since they drafted wide receiver Carnell Tate at No. 4 overall in April.

Now, a fifth-round selection is pushing hard to grab the Titans' open job as their starting right guard.

Fernando Carmona Jr. was the lone rookie starter on offense for the Titans in their preseason opening win at San Francisco and is likely to start again Sunday night when Tennessee hosts the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

“He put his foot in the door, and he’s doing everything he can to throw his shoulder through,” coach Robert Saleh said of Carmona.

The competition for right guard started this offseason between veteran Cordell Volson , who started 48 of 50 games played with Cincinnati between 2022 and 2024, and Jackson Slater, a fifth-round draft pick in 2025. Carmona used his physical style with a touch of nasty to push his way up the rotation.

The result has been a lot of praise, which Carmona said Wednesday was awesome.

"I’m hearing it in the film room there’s a lot things I need to work on, and I’m going to continue to improve and grow,” Carmona said.

He has size at 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds. Carmona polished up his playing style by finishing his college career at Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference the past two seasons. He then worked on himself and technique working with offensive line coach Duke Manyweather fixing some of his flaws before the NFL draft.

Carmona can cover up his rookie mistakes with how he talks with veteran center Austin Schlottman to his left and right tackle JC Latham on the other side.

“It starts with communication, so they at least know what to do,” Saleh said. “Then from there you just take it, let your God-given ability take over.”

Carmona also is learning quickly thanks to trying to block All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and lineman John Franklin-Myers every day. Franklin-Myers said a rookie can need a moment to feel like he's welcome or belongs in the NFL with Carmona working hard and trying to own his position.

“He wants to battle, he wants to go against me, he wants to go against Jeff," Franklin-Myers said. "He wants to go against the best guys, and he wants to get better. He wants to pull you to the side, ask you the questions, maybe even take some extra reps if you’re willing and able, depending on the day.”

Carmona said a rookie wants to go up against the best and facing off against Simmons in training camp will make game days that much easier. Simmons also isn't shy about sharing advice with the rookie.

“Being a rookie, there’s a lot of things I need to grow on, and he sees a lot of those flaws in me,” Carmona said. "And it’s just awesome having that veteran leader being able to tell you what he sees and how it can improve my game.”

Latham, who played with veteran Kevin Zeitler beside him last season, called Carmona humble and a hard worker with a great attitude.

“When he messes up or he feels he could have did better, he’s blunt,” Latham said. “He’s extremely transparent about himself and communicating about himself on what he himself needs to do to be better. And you want to be around a guy like that, a guy who's not going to sugarcoat it."

Simmons, long snapper Morgan Cox and quarterback Cam Ward led the Titans in doing the Ice Bucket Challenge in honor of former Titans running back Chris Johnson and former linebacker Tim Shaw, along with Steve Gleason and other former NFL players dealing with ALS.

Shaw watched from his wheelchair as Simmons, Cox and Ward had big coolers of ice water dumped on them after Cox challenged the other AFC South teams to take part.

Johnson announced in late June he had been diagnosed with ALS and restarted the challenge as a fundraiser for research.

Tate did not practice Wednesday, and Saleh said the rookie was dealing with some stiffness. Fellow rookie Keldric Faulk went in with an injured shoulder late in practice, and Saleh said they hope that was just a stinger. Backup QB Mitchell Trubisky returned to practice after leaving Monday's session late holding his right bicep.

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