Robert Saleh spent the morning after his first win as the Tennessee Titans‘ head coach doing what he did after every loss: picking the game apart. On a video call with reporters on Monday, October 19, he said the staff questioned its own play calls as sharply as ever, and he set a clear bar for Cam Ward, whose 102 passing yards were the lowest of his season.
The timing matters. Tennessee is 1-5 after rallying from 13-0 down at halftime to beat the Indianapolis Colts 26-20 on Sunday, and a winless team that finally wins can be tempted to call the problems solved. Saleh argued the opposite: a win simply makes players easier to coach. “The only difference between today after a win and days after a loss is that the sensitivity is out the door,” he said, describing it as a chance to push even harder on what needs fixing.
Live Press Conference: 8:15 AM CT: HC Robert Saleh https://t.co/U6kw7wfhlH
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 19, 2026
The standard for Cam Ward
Saleh was encouraging about his second-year quarterback but did not let him off the hook. He said Ward is improving, that the game is slowing down for him and that he is growing into what the offense asks, while stressing that the passing game’s issues are not only the quarterback’s. Then he added the line that will follow Ward into the week: “He is the face of the offense and he’s got to play at a higher level.”
The numbers explain why. Ward completed 11 of 22 passes for 102 yards, with an 8-yard touchdown to rookie Carnell Tate and an interception, his fewest attempts and yards of the season and the second-lowest yardage total of his career. Indianapolis outgained Tennessee 399 to 186 and held the ball for 38:32. The Titans won because the defense took the ball away three times and sacked Daniel Jones six times, and because the special teams scored twice in the fourth quarter.
The blocked punt that swung the game was a designed call, and Saleh gave the credit to John Fassel, who runs the Titans’ kicking units, and his assistants. James Williams Sr. got his hand on the kick and Oluwafemi Oladejo returned it 14 yards for a 20-13 lead with 10:17 to play. Saleh also pointed to the number of passes his defenders batted down at the line.
No answer on Alontae Taylor
One question Saleh would not take up was why cornerback Alontae Taylor sat out. Taylor, who had played in all five earlier games with 25 tackles and a sack, was inactive on Sunday even though he was not on the final injury report. The team called it a coaching decision, and on Monday Saleh declined to go further, leaving Taylor’s role for the Browns game unclear.
What comes next
The Titans host the 4-2 Cleveland Browns at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. EDT. The matchup is in the Browns at Titans Game Center, and the full story of Sunday’s comeback is in the Titans-Colts recap.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.