By Jim Wyatt and Cass Teague

It was a disappointing start to the 2026 season for the Tennessee Titans. On a steamy day at Nissan Stadium, the Titans didn’t do much right in a frustrating performance against the New York Jets. The temperature at kickoff was 90 degrees, making it the second-hottest game for the team — home or away — in the franchise’s “Titans era,” which began in 1999. The only higher kickoff temperature was 93 degrees at Nissan Stadium on Sept. 15, 2019, when the Titans played the Indianapolis Colts. Against the Jets, the relative humidity was 57 percent, and the heat index at kickoff was 98 degrees. The end result was a 23-10 loss.

“Expected a better performance, for sure,” head coach Robert Saleh said after the game. “It’s Week 1. There’s still a lot of football to be played. It wasn’t good, but at the same time, like I’ve said, this is a young football team, and we’ll have a chance to grow from this.”

It was the sixth straight season opening loss for the Titans. The Titans couldn’t get anything going on offense for most of the day. Titans quarterback Cam Ward finished the day 19-of-32 for 140 yards and a touchdown, with the team getting its only touchdown drive in the closing minutes when the game was out of hand.

“I am very disappointed,” Ward said. “We are better than what we showed offensively. We trained a lot this offseason, we had some hard days. It didn’t pay off for us today, but it is going to pay off for us eventually, whether it is next week or the week after. We are going to get it rolling. It is only Week 1, and there’s a lot of stuff to build. But we have a lot of stuff to learn off of.”

The Jets outgained the Titans 367 to 195 yards in the contest, and New York had 19 first downs to Tennessee’s 11. The Jets had the ball 38:46 minutes to 21:14 for the Titans, and on a day with the heat index in the 100s, it appeared to take a toll on the home team. It all added up to a rough beginning of the Robert Saleh era.

“We have a long season ahead of us – this is not the end of our season,” defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said. “I hope our fans can stick with us. We are going to go through those growing pains, but at the end of the day we have to take the corrections and get ready for Week 2.”

The Titans return to action this Sunday, September 20, at Nissan Stadium against the Philadelphia Eagles. The game can be viewed locally on the FOX TV network, Channel 17.1 at 12 Noon, followed by the Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys at 3:25 p.m. The Indianapolis Colts visit the Kansas Chiefs on NBC, locally Channel 4.1, at 7:15 p.m. that evening. The Titans visit the New York Giants September 27 and the Baltimore Ravens October 4 before hosting the Houston Texans on October 11; all three games are at 12 Noon, and on CBS.