The Tennessee Titans got exactly the kind of response they needed out of their second joint practice of the preseason.
After a flat showing against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, Tennessee pushed back hard against the defending-champion Seattle Seahawks on Friday. Cam Ward set the tone early, and the Titans looked far sharper in a session that gave the staff and the fan base something better to hang onto heading into the weekend.
After practice, Robert Saleh talked through what he saw from his team, and he didn’t sound interested in making a big production out of it. He did confirm one key point for Sunday night’s preseason game: “we're all playing.”
That matters, especially after Ward and the starters got three drives in San Francisco before being shut down. Saleh didn’t lay out snap counts beyond that, though the expectation is that the workload could grow by a drive or two. Anything more than that would be a surprise after the amount of work Tennessee already put in during practice.
Saleh also had praise for Ward’s overall camp. Even with the rough moments that have shown up along the way, he said Ward has “had a great camp,” and he pointed to the quarterback’s continued growth.
He also acknowledged there are plays Ward would want back, including the pick-six from Friday. Still, the numbers told a better story than the opener: after going 5/12 in the preseason debut, Ward finished 22/28 with two touchdowns against Seattle.
For Tennessee, that’s the kind of bounce-back that can change the mood fast. Another clean outing on Saturday night against the Seahawks would go a long way toward pushing last week’s concerns further into the background.
Saleh didn’t spend much time breaking down the defense, but he clearly liked what the unit brought to the table. He said the Titans generated pressure and competed well, and he singled out the secondary as a group that answered the challenge.
Jeffery Simmons added another layer to that picture, saying Saleh pushed Tennessee’s secondary in team meetings and that players like Alontae Taylor responded the right way. Taylor had a busy day, breaking up multiple passes and dropping an interception early before making up for it later with a pick-six off Sam Darnold that sent the Titans sideline into a frenzy.
The Titans and Seahawks meet Saturday night, Aug. 23, at 7:00 p.m. CT, with roster cuts now just one week away. That makes every snap, every rep, and every strong answer from Tennessee worth watching closely.
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