The Titans will not have one of their cornerbacks at the beginning of the regular season.
The NFL announced on Friday that Nazeeh Johnson has been suspended for the first six games of the year for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Johnson’s suspension will begin on Aug. 30 and he will be eligible for reinstatement on Monday, Oct. 19.
Johnson, 28, was a Chiefs seventh-round pick in 2022, winning a pair of Super Bowls with the club. He’s appeared in 29 career games with six starts, recording three passes defensed and 66 total tackles.
He signed with the Titans in late July.
Titans Clips
Titans head coach Robert Saleh said he felt quarterback Cam Ward’s “mechanics were a little more sped up” against the 49ers than they have been in camp this summer after Thursday night’s game and he shared some more thoughts on Ward during a Friday videoconference with reporters.
Ward was 2-of-4 for 34 yards while leading a touchdown drive on Tennessee’s first possession, but 3-of-8 for 23 yards over his final two series. On Friday, Saleh said that he thought some of that was due to it being the first time he’s facing an opposing defense and that he might have reverted to some rookie year habits when he didn’t have the same kind of time to make plays that he did against the Niners.
Saleh said that he thinks continued time on the practice field will bring the kind of trust and comfort that allows Ward to thrive in the offense in his second season.
“It’s as simple as just time on task,” Saleh said. “Every single one of those plays he has executed flawlessly in practice and he has to be able to have the confidence in himself and his teammates to just execute. Get your feet down, play with great technique and deliver the football just like he has. We’re gonna continue to harp on all the technique, the fundamentals. We’re gonna continue to rep things at a high level, but it’s just reps.”
Saleh said there was nothing about Thursday night’s play that dimmed the coaching staff’s belief in what Ward can do.
“There’s no doubt Cam is capable, we’ve just got to go execute,” Saleh said.
A smoother outing in the next preseason game should quell any concerns that others might have after watching Ward on Thursday and the Titans will next be in game action against the Seahawks a week from Sunday.
Titans quarterback Cam Ward’s first drive of the preseason covered 95 yards and ended with a Tony Pollard touchdown run, but the night wasn’t a total success for the second-year starter.
Ward stayed in the game for three series and the Titans picked up 15 yards while punting twice. He finished the night 5-of-12 for 57 yards and head coach Robert Saleh said after the game that it looked like the move to game action contributed to things getting away from the quarterback.
“It felt like his decisions were right, it just felt like he was a little sped up more than he had been in camp,” Saleh said. “It’s first time live bullets. It looked like his mechanics were a little more sped up than it has been, which is good because we can go correct it, which is what the preseason is for. I’m sure he’ll look back at it and see that the protection was pretty good and he could have went through his process a little bit better.”
Ward said he was “maybe a little bit” sped up, but felt like he was doing a good job of recognizing coverages and going to the right places with the ball.
“We were real good in the run game, real sound like we’ve been all camp. We’ve got to continue to clean up things in the pass game, with myself and my receivers seeing eye to eye,” Ward said. “I’ve got to continue to give them better chances, making plays. I think once we get that we’ll be really good.”
The Titans will have over a week to work on things before they host the Seahawks in their second preseason game and they’ll be hoping to see a calmer Ward in the pocket the next time he’s out there.
Cam Ward completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 3,169 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions as a rookie. The Titans are hoping for a big jump this season.
The 2025 No. 1 overall pick did not look the part Thursday night against the 49ers backup defense.
Ward played three series and went 5-of-12 for 57 yards with a 56.6 passer rating. He had 2 yards on one carry, an intentional grounding penalty and a near-interception. His longest completion was Calvin Ridley’s 18-yard catch-and-run.
Ward did direct an 11-play, 95-yard opening drive that was capped by Tony Pollard’s 5-yard touchdown run. The Titans had 10 plays for 26 yards on Ward’s final two drives of the night.
Backup Mitchell Trubisky replaced Ward with 3:55 remaining until halftime.
The 49ers have four quarterbacks on their roster, but only two dressed Thursday night.
Kurtis Rourke left after Patrick Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown run with 8:38 remaining in the first half. Rourke might have been injured two plays earlier on a 3-yard run.
He went into the sideline medical tent before walking to the 49ers’ training room with members of the team’s medical staff.
The 49ers announced that Rourke has a rib injury and is questionable to return.
Adrian Martinez has replaced Rourke and presumably will finish the game.
Rourke went 12-of-14 for 100 yards and ran for 14 yards on three carries.
The 49ers also saw cornerback Jack Jones leave with an injury. He is ruled out with a right hand injury.
The Commanders announced the signing of defensive tackle Byron Cowart on Tuesday morning and they added another player to the defense in the afternoon.
Linebacker Curtis Jacobs is the newest addition to the 90-man roster in Washington. The Commanders cut two players when they signed Cowart, so they did not need to make any more corresponding moves.
Jacobs appeared in three games for the Titans last season and played 39 special teams snaps. He had four tackles in nine games for the Patriots in 2024.
Jacobs’s most recent playing time came with the UFL’s DC Defenders. He had 42 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery in 10 games.
The Titans plan to play their starters in Thursday’s preseason opener against the 49ers, but they won’t have many first-stringers lined up against them.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said at a press conference on Tuesday that the team will be sitting most of its starters.
“There won’t be many starters playing,” Shanahan said. “We’ll see, with injuries today and stuff — and that doesn’t mean none. But we’ve got to balance that out. We haven’t told the players yet, so we’ll wait until we do that with them this afternoon.”
Shanahan’s decision was likely impacted by Tuesday’s joint practice between the teams, but the 49ers have several players that would likely be sitting due to injury even if they went with a different plan. Wide receiver Mike Evans suited up for practice on Tuesday for the first time in over a week while running back Christian McCaffrey and defensive end Nick Bosa headlined the list of players who remained out.
The Bears signed defensive back Xavier Woods, the team announced Friday.
In a corresponding move, the Bears placed defensive back Dallis Flowers on injured reserve.
Flowers needed help getting off the field during Thursday’s practice after injuring his right leg. He appeared in one game for the Bears last season.
Woods, 31, spent last season with the Titans. He played 526 defensive snaps in 11 games, 10 of those starts, and totaled 39 tackles, two interceptions and three passes defensed.
The Cowboys selected Woods in the sixth round in 2017, and he spent four seasons in Dallas. Woods also played for the Vikings and Panthers before landing in Tennessee last season.
The Titans have made a significant commitment to one of their key offensive players.
Guard Peter Skoronski has signed a contract extension, the team announced on Friday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the deal is for four years and $100 million, with $88 million guaranteed, which makes him the league’s highest-paid guard.
“We couldn’t be happier to keep Peter in Nashville. The goal will always be to retain people and players who are cornerstones of our organization, and Peter is certainly that for us,” General Manager Mike Borgonzi said in a statement from the team. “He has the work ethic to match his talent and a perpetual desire to win that we want permeating throughout our building. We’re excited to enter the season knowing he and his family will remain Titans for years to come.”
“This is a tremendous blessing. It’s a reflection of the work, sacrifice and support that has helped me get to this point, and I don’t take any of it for granted,” Skoronski said in a statement released by the team. “Thank you to Ms. Amy [Adams Strunk], Mike Borgonzi and coach [Robert] Saleh for believing in me. From the moment I got here, this is where I wanted to be. I love this organization, I love this city, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue representing this franchise. I appreciate the faith they’ve shown in me, and now it’s my job to earn it every day. I’m excited for what’s ahead, but more than anything, I’m ready to get back to work.”
The No. 11 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Skoronski has started 48 games over the last three seasons, including all 17 in each of the last two.
The Titans had picked up his fifth-year option in the spring, which put him in line to earn $19.072 million guaranteed in 2027.
The Titans made a change to their linebacker group on Thursday.
They announced that they have signed Dominique Hampton to the active roster. Shad Banks was waived with an injury designation in a corresponding move.
Hampton was a fifth-round pick by the Commanders in 2024 and he moved from safety to linebacker as a rookie. He played six special teams snaps in his only regular season appearance with the team and spent time with the Bears this offseason.
Banks signed with the Titans after going undrafted out of UTSA this April. If he clears waivers, he will revert to the team’s injured reserve list.
