Saleh’s first game back is against the Jets
Robert Saleh could not make the New York Jets work. On Sunday he coaches against them. Tennessee hired him after his second spell as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator, and the schedule handed him his old employer in the opening week of his second head coaching job.
The Titans he inherits have won six games in two years. Brian Callahan went 3-14 in 2024, started 1-5 in 2025 and was dismissed. Mike McCoy took over on an interim basis and brought the season home at 3-14 again.
Cam Ward carried most of that weight. The No. 1 overall pick in 2025 threw for 3,169 yards and 15 touchdowns against seven interceptions as a rookie, behind a line that leaked and receivers who could not bail him out. His completion rate finished at 59.8 percent.
“This kid’s not going to fail,” Saleh said. “Obviously, I put my job on that one. But he’s not going to fail. He’s special.”
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New York bring a record nobody wants
Aaron Glenn finished 3-14 in his first year in charge at New York, and got there in a way the league had never seen. The Jets defence did not record a single interception all season, the first team to manage that since the NFL began tracking the statistic in 1933. December was worse: New York was outscored by 107 points in that month alone, a league record, and by 203 across the year.
Geno Smith is back at quarterback after a failed campaign in Las Vegas. Demario Davis and Minkah Fitzpatrick have arrived to give the defence players who create something. Garrett Wilson sounds convinced already.
“I’ve seen everything I need to see out of the guys we have and I’ve done things differently personally to try and play my role to the best of my ability,” the receiver said. “Something’s going to happen this year. It’s our job to go play ball and do it.”
Team news and a long series
Breece Hall, the Jets’ leading rusher in each of the last four seasons, has a groin problem but practised fully on Wednesday. Edge rusher Joseph Ossai (foot) and receiver Tim Patrick (groin) did not. Tennessee linebacker Cedric Gray sat out with a concussion suffered in a UTV accident at the weekend and still has a chance to clear protocol.
Tennessee gave Ward more to aim at by adding Wan’Dale Robinson from the Giants and drafting Carnell Tate, then rebuilt the defensive line around former Jet Jermaine Johnson, John Franklin-Myers and Jacob Martin. The Titans lead the all-time series 25-21-1, a run that stretches back to a 1991 playoff win when the franchise was still the Houston Oilers. The Jets have taken four of the last five.
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