Cam Ward's rookie season left plenty to be desired, and the Titans took steps to put more around him this year. Johnnie Izquierdo / Getty ImagesSept. 2, 2026 Updated The Athletic Football Show is previewing all 32 teams leading up to the start of the 2026 NFL season. Below are select quotes from the show’s preview of the Tennessee Titans. The quotes are edited for clarity. You can watch the whole preview on YouTube and in the embedded video below, or listen to the full AFC South preview wherever you get your podcasts.Derrik Klassen on what about the Titans most excites him: I’m excited to see Robert Saleh’s microwaved defense. They have at least five new starters on defense. Some of these guys played for Saleh specifically. John Franklin-Myers had played for him for a little bit, and Jermaine Johnson had a really good 2023 season with him, made the Pro Bowl, 7.5 sacks. The year after that, he tore his Achilles, and then this past year, he was working back from that. I have a little bit of faith that Johnson could be a year-after-the-year player with the injury. I liked Keldric Faulk a decent amount, especially if he can just be an early-down glass-eating type in this defense. I don’t think that this is going to be a good defense, but Saleh had last year’s 49ers defense that had nobody by the end of the year, especially up front, playing incredibly hard. I think that this defense is more talented than that, especially when you have a guy like Jeffrey Simmons. And so I’m just excited to see how quickly they can get off the ground.Dave Helman on what he’s watching the first month of the season: I will say, I’ll try to be charitable and say I’m willing to keep an open mind, at least. Wan’Dale Robinson, even if I don’t find him a super exciting addition, he’s a reliable guy that can probably be a steadying presence in the slot for Cam Ward. We’re just trying to look consistent and respectable. So maybe Robinson can be better in that regard than I give him credit for. Maybe these cornerbacks, if Jeffrey Simmons and some of the other front players that we talked about are on their stuff, maybe that looks better. So in the first month of the season, I just want to see: do I feel about these big money additions that the Titans paid A money for B players, was this a mistake, or can these guys do more than I’m giving them credit for?Robert Mays on what’s keeping him up at night: In Cam Ward’s first 17 games, his EPA per dropback per TruMedia was wedged between J.J. McCarthy and DeShone Kizer. We’ve seen this happen (for first overall picks) where Jared Goff, Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, the guys who have climbed out of that sort of rookie year, a lot of them have had massive improvements in offensive infrastructure. They have gotten paired with a guy who has helped change the trajectory of their careers. Do we think Brian Daboll is going to be that for Cam Ward? I have serious concerns about that, and that is what is keeping me up at night.Subscribe to “The Athletic Football Show” on YouTube