The Tennessee Titans have much to weigh after their disappointing Week 1 defeat to the New York Jets. For fans, frustration has already reached a boiling point following consecutive 3-14 seasons. For the Robert Saleh era, bad preseason football carried over to the home-opener letdown.
The fanbase wants tangible results before buying into hope. The 2026 Titans must earn trust after damaging the relationship with fans. Patience is immediately running thin, with Saleh and his coaching staff tasked with responding.
Here is our first Titans trust index entering what already looks like a campaign-defining Week 2 showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles.
How the Titans' trust index works
We consider many factors when evaluating Tennessee's trust index. It considers performance levels and opportunity. It also considers comments from Coach Saleh and any mitigating circumstances, such as injuries.
Trust can waver from week to week. That's the nature of the NFL, and the Titans are no different with everything on the line this season.
Let's get to it...
The proving ground: QB Cam Ward
Fans are anxious to see sophomore Cam Ward grow into a franchise quarterback. Week 1 delivered more disappointment than excitement. Ward finished 19-of-32 with 140 yards and one touchdown. A chunk of his yardage and TD pass occurred in garbage time.
Nothing matters more for the 2026 Titans than Ward's growth and development. It was a rough start under first-year offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Portions of the fanbase are already disappointed beyond belief, but Ward deserves a fair opportunity and a much larger sample size to show progress.
The alpha: HC Robert Saleh
Coach Saleh had to confront some difficult questions this week following the Titans' first regular-season performance under his leadership. It's understandable. Saleh's Titans were deplorable in all phases, and responsibility for such an unfathomable showing belongs to the head coach.
Fan frustration has carried over from the Brian Callahan-coached Titans. Saleh's squad desperately needs a better performance to bring closure to ugly narratives. The new-look Titans need to be just that.
The fast riser: LB Anthony Hill Jr.
The only bright spot from the Titans' no-show Week 1 performance was rookie linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. The former Texas standout registered a league-high 16 tackles across the complete slate of opening games. The rebuilding Titans need more difference makers, and Hill appears to possess legitimate upside.
The expectation is the Titans will start Hill and Cedric Gray at linebacker versus the Eagles in Week 2. That would give the Titans an ascending duo at linebacker made up of two growing defenders on team-friendly rookie contracts. Hopefully Hill stays in the starting lineup.
Initial disappointment: OC Brian Daboll
Fans were excited for Daboll's offense to make its debut after enduring the Brian Callahan experience. Unfortunately, it didn't look any better in Week 1. The Titans gained fewer than 200 yards of offense and managed one touchdown, with portions of the meager production occurring on a garbage-time possession.
Ward didn't appear comfortable in the pocket. The offense was chaotic, with spacing/route concept issues in the passing game. Daboll's offense has plenty to improve in an extremely tough Week 2 matchup with an elite Eagles defense.
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