It’s about that time. Summer practices are long gone. That’s it, now, for the preseason.
So, Robert Saleh, your Tennessee Titans ready?
“It doesn’t matter,” Saleh replied with a chuckle. “We’ve got to go.”
You, being the discerning reader you are, surely noticed that wasn’t a “yes” from Saleh to my question after the final preseason game.
And that made Saleh’s answer more interesting than said preseason game. If you care – and I’m not sure why you would – the Titans lost to the Chicago Bears 24-15 and didn’t play Cam Ward or Jeffery Simmons or most of their starters.
Saleh changed his mind in opting to sit top Titans for this one. That was probably best. If nothing else, it spared home fans from another troubling instance of the Titans’ starters
going out there and struggling against some other team’s backups.
Joint practices with Seattle and Chicago weren’t so bleak, honestly, but unless you happened to be at the Titans’ facility on those days to watch them, you’ll have to take others’ word for it. What you saw from the starters in those preseason games wasn’t all that encouraging.
Ready or not ...
Titans fans, I’d think, are arriving at a new season hoping for the best while cautiously fearing more of the misery these past few seasons have unleashed upon them. They are like kids in the back seat of a long drive, asking “are we there yet?” when, sadly, most already suspect the answer.
No, the Titans aren’t there yet.
They are not done with this long rebuild. They may not even be close.
Note Saleh’s verbiage of recent days. He stressed that the Titans are “going to get better every single week” and that “I can damn near guarantee it.”
To my question after the Bears’ game, Saleh reiterated, “This is our floor. We're a super young team. We're going to get better as the year goes on.”
While that sounds heartening for the future, it’s also something a coach says as a subtle warning about the present. Do not, in other words, expect too much immediately from this team.
It’s concerning that Ward, the hyped quarterback, hasn’t proven much yet in the NFL and scuffled with his accuracy during the offseason. It’s disheartening that receiver Carnell Tate – impressive as he has been in practices – didn’t record one catch in three preseason games. It’s alarming the lack of depth, especially on the offensive line and in the secondary.
It’s sobering, too, how little the Titans appear to have gained by being so inept in recent seasons.
This offseason, The Athletic put out a ranking of the NFL’s Top 25 players age 25 or younger, as voted on anonymously by league execs, coaches and scouts.
Eight teams had at least two players on that 25-man list. The Titans didn’t have any.
The Titans wouldn’t have been mentioned at all if it wasn’t for Chimere Dike being listed as the last of 10 players in the “honorable mention” section, and clearly, that was as a punt returner, not wide receiver.
Otherwise, of the 34 players, the Titans had an opportunity to draft 17 of them. Some were passed on more than once, and some for players who are either already gone (T’Vondre Sweat) or have little to no future with the franchise (Will Levis).
The canary in the coal mine for any NFL franchise is in draft miscues. For the Titans, that canary started singing years ago. The fallout has been brutal, going unchecked by mismanagement and poor hires at coach and general manager.
We all know that.
What we don’t: Is the worst finally over?
Expectations should be measured. But it’s not too much for Titans fans to wish for a season they can at least enjoy a little. With, say, games in November and December that’ll actually be meaningful?
We’ll see. But there aren’t any guarantees. Not from this coach. Not with this roster. Not with this young quarterback. There’s just hope and uncertainty and vague assurances that the Titans are going to be better one day than they are right now.
If all that doesn’t sound familiar, then you must be new around here.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hey Titans fans, another season of hope and disappointment has arrived | Estes
