In their only primetime appearance this season, the entire country got to see the Tennessee Titans secondary get schooled in a blown communication between Kevin Winston and Alontae Taylor. The result: an easy 36-yard touchdown pass from Seattle Seahawks backup QB Drew Lock to Elijah Arroyo.
Titans starters struggled on both sides of the ball more than they should have against Seattle’s backups. Not exactly an encouraging sign if you’re banking on major improvement from the Titans in 2026.
But head coach Robert Saleh considered the play to be more of a school in session for his Titans as they work to master new schemes both on offense and defense with over half the roster new to the team.
“I know we had the one play, where, like I said, I’m actually glad it happened, because it creates an ‘a ha’ moment for the entire secondary to understand why we do things a certain way,” Saleh said. “You wish it had happened in practice so it doesn’t look so (expletive). But it happened. I’m glad it happened when it happened. Going back and watching the tape, it’s exactly what we thought, and it’ll get fixed.”
Speaking of getting fixed, Saleh knows there’s still much work to be done with one preseason game left against Chicago – as well as another joint practice Thursday with the Bears – before the regular season opens Sept. 13 against the New York Jets.
That work is not limited to defense, as the offense has not been able to hit many explosive plays in two games of preseason work. Cam Ward was better than he was in week one but still hasn’t been overly consistent or impressive in his two games. He also has yet to complete a pass to first-round pick Carnell Tate.
So what does that add up to as the Titans continue to evaluate even into the final week of training camp?
“All the way across the board in all three phases, we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Saleh says. “We were close (Sunday) to having some real cool moments, but like I said, going back and watching the tape, what I felt and what I saw during the game, was verified by the tape.
“Cam was making good decisions. He was taking what the defense gave him. ...We had three opportunities on some deeper developing concepts that we were just off. We’ve got work to do in all three phases.”
‘Get better every single week’
There have been some encouraging moments in the preseason. The offensive and defensive lines seem to be coming together well, and rookies like Anthony Hill and Fernando Carmona have the makings of being early contributors who were picked beyond the first round.
But it feels like the 2026 Tennessee Titans are going to experience a lot of growing pains in the coming weeks that could very well extend into the regular season.
Saleh is bracing for it, and seems to be bracing Titans fans for it as well.
“You always want all ups, but there’s going to be peaks and valleys all season There always is. Even the world champs are going to experience it,” Saleh says. “But it’s going about as expected. There’s going to be some moments of heartbreak and there’s going to be some moments of ‘that was awesome.’
“But I can stand on the table and damn near guarantee you that this team is going to get better every single week.”
Young players learning new schemes and new coaches as they are still learning about life in the NFL is going to have some bumpy patches in the road. Saleh is well aware of that, which is why if a lesson can be learned by giving up a preseason touchdown, well, that could be embarrassing, but it’s better than learning the lesson in the regular season when the touchdown allowed would really count for something.
“You would love for them to know it. You go through some of the walk-throughs, but to see it, there’s nothing like seeing it in a live rep, and I’m glad it happened. There’s sometimes you need a scar to feel the weight of communication, and that was one of those moments,” Saleh says.
And while fans might not be satisfied with continued mistakes or excuses, the truth is for a team that is just trying to get back on its feet after being at the bottom of the league the past few years, the trials and tribulations could be numerous – especially early on.
“Sometimes experiencing growth hurts. There’s no team in the NFL that is going to go through the entire season high-fiving each other all the way through it,” Saleh says. “There’s going to be painful moments, but the good news is that it’s an opportunity for us to learn, and we’ll get better from it.”