Groundhog Day for the Titans with another season-opening loss after busy offseason

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have yet another new coach working with a general manager in his second season with the franchise. They also spent more than anyone else in the NFL to kick off free agency in March.

Not even the new uniforms helped as they looked like the same old Titans with yet another loss.

The Titans lost 23-10 to the New York Jets with new coach Robert Saleh’s debut Sunday spoiled by the team he used to coach. They were so dominated that fans booed early and often before many simply left for air-conditioning on a steamy day when the temperature felt around 100 degrees.

“When you have a product like that, when you have a bad performance like that, it is hard to blame anybody,” Titans left guard Peter Skoronski said. “If you want to keep guys in their seats, you’ve got to play well.”

That's what Saleh was hired to fix, and he brought in an experienced staff featuring former Giants coach Brian Daboll as his offensive coordinator and another former NFL head coach in Gus Bradley as his defensive coordinator. Saleh said he was surprised by what happened, though he cautioned this is a young team.

His message is that the Titans (0-1) will get better.

“I can throw podiums around if you want to make everyone feel good, but it’s really go back, watch the tape, figure it out, and see if we can get better from this," Saleh said when asked if he was mad at the performance.

The Titans have plenty to fix.

The defense was on the field for nearly 39 minutes, which included allowing a 19-play drive that used up 11:48 off the clock in the first half. Nobody sacked Geno Smith, who tied Cam Ward with 55 sacks last season as the NFL's most sacked quarterbacks.

On offense, the Titans managed only 195 yards, with 65 coming on the one touchdown drive that was too late to matter.

Ward was sacked three times and scrambled much of the game. He finished with 21 yards rushing on four carries and threw for 140 yards with his one TD pass with 2:42 left. The bright spot was the Titans didn’t turn the ball over offensively.

One difference between now and last season is the Titans have more input into both the offense and defense, according to Ward. He believes coaches are listening to what the Titans want to do, which will help the team.

“It’s only Week 1. We’ve got 16 left,” Ward said. “We just got to take it each and every day and try to get some wins.”

Special teams had the one turnover from All-Pro returner Chimere Dike. He lost the ball on a kickoff return after being checked for a concussion on a play where a teammate was pushed into him while fielding a punt.

The Titans have lost six straight season openers as they try to snap a skid of four straight losing seasons. In 2024, they lost then-coach Brian Callahan's Tennessee debut and finished 3-14. Callahan was fired six games into the franchise's second consecutive 3-14 record in 2025.

All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said he hopes fans stick with the Titans.

“We’re going to go through them growing pains,” Simmons said.

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