Paul Kuharsky | Tennessee Titans News and Analysis
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Blake Beddingfield: Titans' Preseason Tape Is Revealing Too Many Concerns
A former Titans scout breaks down Cam Ward, the offensive line, Kevin Winston Jr. and what the first two preseason games have revealed about the roster. By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While watching Sunday night’s Titans preseason win over the Seahawks, during which Tennessee’s first team struggled, I texted PK. “Does the team practice better than this?” He said it does. Even so, if I worked for the team, just based on the two preseason games, I would...
Titans Win Again but Their Starters Show Too Little Against Seahawks Backups
Cam Ward and the Titans' starters struggled to generate much against Seattle's backups, while the defense surrendered two explosive plays in another uneven preseason win. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If it’s good, it means a lot. If it’s bad, the preseason means nothing. That’s usually how NFL teams size up the preseason. So the Titans have to be hoping Sunday night was mostly meaningless. They won a week ago in San Francisco but looked bad. Sunday night they won again – 19-16...
Nissan Stadium Will Spend Its Final Season Between Two Titans Eras
The Titans have largely made a clean break to their new look, but their soon-to-be-demolished home will feature old and new branding throughout its final season. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – As Nissan Stadium hosts the first game of its final season this evening, it will feature a mix of old branding and new. The old flame ball logo, which the team now bills as vintage, still has a big presence in the building. The new light blue shield will also be mixed in. But there was har...
Titans Run Game, Situational Offense Show Progress Against Seahawks
Cam Ward took what Seattle gave him, the run game consistently found room and Tennessee finished strongly in hurry-up and 2-minute work. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans offense looked much better in its joint practice session against the Seahawks than it did last week in California against the 49ers, particularly in situational work: red zone, hurry-up, and 2-minute. Cam Ward made solid decisions, though he was often forced to settle for underneath plays in the passing game....
Thirty Years Says: 10 Lessons From Three Decades Covering the Titans
Three decades covering the Oilers and Titans have provided plenty of evidence about hope, quarterbacks, organizations, talent and the danger of reaching conclusions too quickly. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Thirty years covering the Titans in no way makes me automatically right. It does give me a hell of a lot of evidence against which to test what's happening now. Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned since 1996 covering this franchise. 1) Hope is cheap. Seek proof. “You’re abo...
Thirty Years Covering the Oilers and Titans and How the Job Changed Me
After 30 years covering the Oilers and Tennessee Titans, Paul Kuharsky reflects on how the beat, the NFL and his approach to journalism have changed. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Shortly after I arrived in Houston to cover the final year of the Oilers and their move to Nashville for The Tennessean, I met with Floyd Reese at the team’s administrative office. That building was three-tenths of a mile around a big curve from the practice facility, with El Rio turning into El Camino on t...
Titans Film Room: What Cam Ward, Keldric Faulk, JC Latham and Fernando Carmona Showed
Drew Beatty breaks down what stood out from Cam Ward, Keldric Faulk, JC Latham and Fernando Carmona in the Titans’ preseason opener. By DREW BEATTY, film analyst With the bleak despair of the NFL offseason finally relenting, the Robert Saleh-led Tennessee Titans debuted against his former team in San Francisco last week. Despite leaving with a 19-13 win, the overall mood coming out of the first game of the 2026 preseason was pretty blah. The primary contributor to this sense of dread...
He Feels He's Done Nothing, But Fernando Carmona Leads the Titans' Right Guard Race
The fifth-round rookie has climbed past two veterans while measuring himself against Jeffery Simmons and a standard he knows he hasn't reached. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When you’re a fifth-rounder leading a competition to start at right guard, drawing Jeffery Simmons on most plays, the best practice assessment you can hope for is probably OK. How did Fernando Carmona rate his Monday practice? “Not good,” he said. “We’ve got to work on some stuff. But you know, it's a day-by-...
Why Robert Saleh's Titans Believe Some Football Drills Aren't Football Enough
Offensive line sleds are gone, one-on-ones are limited and scripted periods can disappear as Saleh pushes the Titans toward practice that better resembles the game. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When the Titans defensive line works on its own, it lifts sleds, corners around bags and smashes into dummies. When the offensive line works, there are no extras to be found. Olga and Bertha, giant heavy sleds that had to be hit just the right way to work, were designed partly by Bill Cal...
Blake Beddingfield: Cam Ward Wants to Play Like Patrick Mahomes, Titans Need Him to Be More Like Brock Purdy
The former Titans scouting director saw encouraging signs around Ward in the preseason opener, but believes the quarterback is still trying to do too much. By BLAKE BEDDINGFIELD, special correspondent NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Preseason is a true window into what your team will look like during the regular season. It isn’t about wins or losses or even team or unit success. It does show NFL front offices and coaches the strength of your depth as a roster and in particular the positional depth and ...
Titans Open With a 95-Yard TD Drive, but Cam Ward Wasn't Sharp
Tennessee's first-team offense produced an impressive opening drive, but Robert Saleh saw a quarterback whose mechanics and progressions moved faster than they needed to. By PAUL KUHARSKY The Titans only needed two pass completions from Cam Ward in their first series in order to cover 95 yards and find a touchdown. That was the first-team highlight, a strong run-heavy drive that moved the ball through a variety of weapons: Tony Pollard ran for 12, Calvin Ridley took a pass for 18, Gunnar...
Fred Warner Wonders Whether Cam Ward's Trash-Talk Style Will Work
Ward believes jawing with great defenders brings out his best. Warner thinks it may, but says there's another side to that equation. By PAUL KUHARSKY SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Fred Warner flew around and chatted it up during the 49ers-Titans joint practice on Tuesday. Afterward, Cam Ward said he was working to jaw with the four-time First Team All-Pro linebacker. I’m only now hearing what Warner said. “I think Cam is one of the unique quarterbacks where he's not afraid to sit there and pla...
Mitch Trubisky Knows the Quarterback Trap Cam Ward Can Avoid With Brian Daboll
After playing for six NFL play-callers, Trubisky knows what it feels like to be second-guessed even when a play works. He doesn't expect that for Ward. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In nine seasons, Mitch Trubisky has played for six different NFL play-callers. Now lined up behind Cam Ward, working for Brian Daboll for a second time, Trubisky brings a unique perspective to the Titans quarterback situation. And he sees Ward entering a situation that gives him freedom designed to maxi...
Titans Bring the Fight, but 49ers Win That and More in Joint Practice
The Titans wanted a fast, violent day in Santa Clara. The 49ers were more physical and considerably better in execution. By PAUL KUHARSKY SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Titans were physical in a joint practice against the 49ers at their facility Tuesday, and two of their better players, Cedric Gray and Carnell Tate, spoke of that as if it proved something. But fast and violent didn’t translate into precision or execution often enough, and those are the things needed to win such a session or a...
How Brian Daboll Plans to Fix the Titans’ Broken Screen Game
The Titans were inefficient on screens in 2025. Brian Daboll brings a different approach, while Robert Saleh knows his attacking defense will invite them. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chim Dike getting tackled close to the line of scrimmage on screens was one of the enduring images of the Titans’ offensive failures in 2025. Titans coaches often called the plays “run solutions,” but they counted as screens and they were rough. Per Sumer Sports, Dike caught 21 for 70 yards. An avera...
Why Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears Fit Brian Daboll’s Titans Run Game
A look at Brian Daboll’s zone-heavy rushing attack, why it requires quick processing from running backs and how Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears fit it. By DREW BEATTY, film analyst After the Tennessee Titans hired Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator, much of the conversation naturally centered on what the former New York Giants head coach could do for Cam Ward. But Daboll brings more than a strong track record designing passing games and developing quarterbacks. His rushing attack is wor...
The Less Exciting Cam Ward Plays That Mattered in Titans’ Scrimmage
Carnell Tate supplied the highlight, but Robert Saleh was more interested in Cam Ward repeatedly putting the football where it belonged. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On the second series with the Titans’ first units on the field at their Friday night scrimmage, Cam Ward made some innocuous, series-extending plays. He turned around in the pocket to buy time and hit Tyjae Spears, who took the short throw for a big gain. And he hit two short checkdowns to Tony Pollard that kept the o...
Why Aaron Whitecotton Is Obsessed With the Titans' Get-Off
Aaron Whitecotton's coaching point isn't complicated. Every drill, every rush and every meeting begins with the first movement off the ball as the Titans build Robert Saleh's attack front. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Snap your fingers. That's still slower than Aaron Whitecotton wants his defensive line reacting to the football. It’s not a speed-of-sound action; it’s speed-of-light reaction. They are locked in on the ball, with all kinds of twitchy movement around it. With hard-...
Cor'Dale Flott, Alontae Taylor Bring Size Back to Titans Secondary
The veteran additions don't just add experience. Their length and physicality fit the way Robert Saleh wants his defense to play. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Before the 2025 draft, Mike Borgonzi quietly lowered the Titans' height standard for cornerbacks. Chad Brinker preferred 6-foot. Borgonzi was comfortable dipping to 5-foot-11, pointing to Chiefs 5-10½ standout Trent McDuffie as proof elite play didn't require prototype size. One offseason later, the Titans have gone right ...
Will Levis Needs New Tape More Than New Confidence
The Tennessee Titans backup quarterback doesn't need more confidence. He needs fresh tape that convinces the league to see him differently. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Will Levis said he doesn't believe there are 32 quarterbacks better than him. Of course he doesn't. Every quarterback drafted where he was has to believe that. The harder question is whether there comes a point when confidence stops being an asset and starts becoming a refusal to acknowledge what the league has...
How JC Latham Rebuilt the Mental Side of His Game
JC Latham says books, a mental coach and a different approach to adversity have transformed the part of his game he believes had the most room for improvement entering Year Three. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When JC Latham tailed off and finished last season as a real question mark, he pledged to get the mental part of his game in order. I wondered how much a guy could gain in that department, far removed from the strain of a regular season, and was anxious to ask him about it. ...
Why Titans Receiver Depth Looks Better in August Than September
Training camp always produces intriguing Titans receivers. Thirty years covering the franchise says real depth isn't revealed by summer highlights. It's revealed when the fourth receiver has to make a season-defining play. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Every camp produces multiple interesting receiver stories. A rookie. A veteran looking reborn. Maybe an undrafted free agent. We add them together. We mistake them for real depth. We start believing the Titans have finally solv...
Paul Kuharsky Podcast: What's Real and What's Not Early in Titans Camp
From Cam Ward to Tyjae Spears to the defensive front, here's my early read on what matters and what doesn't. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- What's real and what's not after a couple of days of Titans training camp. I love the dashy, darty screens and dump-offs we've seen to Tyjae Spears, who looks electric. But passes to running backs have traditionally worked better at practices than in games. I need to ask questions about intentions and see things work in real situations to belie...
Jacob Martin Sheds Light on Titans' Transition to Robert Saleh's Attack Front
Titans defenders didn't actually fall on their faces learning Robert Saleh's attack front. Jacob Martin explains why it can feel like they might. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Titans defensive linemen were not falling on their faces in spring positional drills, and it’s not happening now. But in the continuing conversation about the group’s big transition, it might not have been that big a surprise. “A lot of guys when they go from a read system to an attack system and they're in...
Chris Johnson's ALS Forces an Uncomfortable Titans Conversation
The reaction to a question about Chris Johnson, ALS and football's risks says something important about how fans have learned to process the game's consequences. By PAUL KUHARSKY NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chris Johnson is the second prominent Titan to be diagnosed with ALS, joining Tim Shaw. After he died in 2023, Frank Wycheck was diagnosed posthumously with Stage 3 CTE. Each development left me pondering my role in endorsing a game built on extraordinary physical punishment, with potential...
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