Titans fall flat in coach Saleh's debut as Ward struggles

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Coach Robert Saleh's Tennessee Titans' debut did not go anywhere near how he planned. The Titans suffered a 23-10 loss to Saleh's former team, the New York Jets, while quarterback Cam Ward had a tough outing, completing 19 of 32 attempts for 140 yards and one touchdown. The accuracy issues with Ward carried over from last year to the season opener on Sunday. Ward missed easy throws near the line of scrimmage to running back Tyjae Spears and wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson. He also missed what would have been a big play to Carnell Tate across the middle on third and 3 in the second quarter. Ward acknowledged he missed some easy throws. "Those are some big plays that we could have had, but we still got a lot of things to clean up for sure," Ward said. "I'm very disappointed. We're 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's going to pay off for us eventually, whether it's next week or the week after, but we're going to get it rolling, and it's exciting." There was a lot of excitement surrounding Saleh hiring Brian Daboll to work with Ward. But the Titans offense only scored one touchdown in six drives during the preseason and didn't reach the end zone until late in the fourth quarter when Ward found Elic Ayomanor on a slant for an 11-yard touchdown with the game already out of reach. The frustration mounted as fans began to boo throughout the game, especially during the four three-and-outs resulting in punts. Saleh heard the boos but vowed not to make any instant reaction decisions after a frustrating loss to a team that finished equally as bad as the Titans at 3-14 last season. "I think everyone's a little frustrated," Saleh said. "Don't confuse my calm demeanor with frustration, but before I blurt and start screaming, I'm going to watch a tape and try to make sure that we make rational, educated football decisions to make sure that we're putting our players in the best position to be successful. Same thing with our players. I can throw podiums around if you want to make everyone feel good. But it's really go back, watch the tape, figure it out and see if we can get better from this." Added Ward, "It doesn't make me feel any type of way. The fans come here for a show. They spend their money to come see the Titans win games, and we want them out here each and every day."