Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will be coaching against the team that fired him when he faces the Giants on Sunday. He says that’s not particularly important.
Daboll, who was hired as Giants head coach in 2022 and fired last year, said he can set aside any emotions associated with facing his former team and just focus on doing his job.
“I’ve faced a lot of former teams before,” Daboll said. “It’s a one-week season every week, so you’ve got to put everything you got into it. You’ve got to get ready for scheme, new coordinators on their end, different players. As simple as it sounds, that’s what it is every week in the National Football League. I have a ton of respect for the people in that organization. Very grateful for the opportunity the Mara family and Tisch family gave me. From top down to the bottom, really good people in that building. But it’s about getting the players ready for a game. I’ve been on a number of teams that played my former teams before. But the focus is on our players.”
Daboll also downplayed any idea that he has an advantage because he knows the players on the Giants, noting that they’re a different team this year than they were last year. Daboll is treating Sunday like he’d treat any other game.
Titans Clips
Eight teams entered Week 3 at 0-2. One of them — the Falcons — avoided an 0-3 start. For the others, it becomes imperative to avoid starting the year with three straight losses.
In NFL history, only seven teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-3. The group includes the 2025 Texans, the 2018 Texans, the 1998 Bills, the 1995 Lions, the 1992 Chargers, the 1982 Buccaneers, and the 1981 Jets.
Only the ’92 Chargers made it to the postseason after starting 0-4.
It’s easier now than it once was, thanks to 17 regular-season games and seven playoff spots per conference. It’s still not easy.
For starters, plenty of teams that start 0-3 do so for a very good reason — they’re not very good. Those that are have a reduced margin for error over the final 14 games.
This year, one game features two 0-2 teams: the Texans at the Colts. The other winless teams are the Dolphins, the Titans, the Chargers, the Commanders, and the Buccaneers.
A stinger grossly shortened Eagles running back Saquon Barkley’s day against the Titans in Week 2. As a Week 3 Monday night game against the Bears looms, Barkley is undeterred — but also cognizant of the situation.
“I’ve had a history of [stingers] before,” Barkley said Friday, via Tim McManus of ESPN. “This is the first bad one I had in a long time. It’s also like a wake-up call to me. I’ve been super active focusing on my lower body and longevity of my career. I probably wasn’t as great as I needed to be with my neck stability and strengthening my neck. So it’s putting that within my routine and having that as part of my process and kind of the same way I attack everything from head to toe, do the same thing with my neck.
“It’s good to have an MRI knowing it’s nothing, hopefully, God willing, where I worry about my career and I can just go out there and play free.”
The injury happened on the first play from scrimmage at Tennessee. Barkley later returned wearing a neck collar, but he finished the day with only four carries for nine yards and one catch for 11 yards.
Barkley was limited in practice on Thursday. He fully participated on Friday.
Will the injury affect him on Monday?
“I don’t think so,” Barkley said. “That’s why I’m rehabbing my ass off, to get it as strong as it needs to be. I feel like I’m in a really good spot. I know they wouldn’t let me go out there if I wasn’t able to do it.
“I’m going to let the game come, and I’m going to go out there and play fearless, don’t worry about.”
The Eagles are 2-0 after narrow wins against the overmatched Commanders and Titans. Philly may be facing a third-string quarterback in Chicago on Monday night, giving the Eagles a golden opportunity to move to 3-0.
Titans running back Tony Pollard (ankle) had a second consecutive limited practice Friday after missing Wednesday. Pollard, though, did not receive an injury designation for Sunday.
That is good news for the Titans because running back Tyjae Spears (ankle) is questionable to play. Spears returned to practice Friday on a limited basis.
Rookie running back Nick Singleton made his regular-season debut in Week 2 and could see more work this week because of Pollard and Spears’ injuries.
“He’s doing a really good job,” Titans coach Robert Saleh said Friday, via Jim Wyatt of the team website. “He’s probably 50-50 on the read [on his runs], but to be expected from a young buck. So, hopefully we get him a couple more. But overall I think he’s going to be a good back, he’s going in the right direction.”
Singleton, selected in the fifth round out of Penn State, carried the ball four times for 10 yards against the Eagles.
The Titans also list cornerback Cor’Dale Flott (quad) as questionable after he had three limited practices this week.
Word this week was that Giants linebacker Brian Burns would miss time with the ankle injury he suffered in Week 2, but the Giants have not ruled him out for Sunday’s game against the Titans.
Burns is listed as questionable despite missing practice all three days this week. The report and the lack of practice time suggest Burns will need more time before he’s able to play, but final word on his status won’t come until closer to kickoff.
Left tackle Andrew Thomas (groin) returned to practice Friday and has no injury designation.
Cornerback Deonte Banks (calf) and safety Tyler Nubin (calf) join Burns with questionable designations on the team’s final injury report.
Titans running back Tony Pollard (ankle) practiced on Thursday, getting in limited work. Pollard did not practice Wednesday.
He has 21 carries for 99 yards this season, playing 55 offensive snaps (53 percent).
The Titans’ other running back, Tyjae Spears, did not practice again with an ankle injury. He has played 44 offensive snaps and has 14 touches for 94 yards.
The Titans added three players to their injury report. Tight end Daniel Bellinger (illness) did not practice; cornerback Micah Robinson (groin) was limited; and cornerback Marcus Harris (shoulder) was a full participant.
Defensive tackle Solomon Thomas (knee) was downgraded to a non-participant after a limited practice on Wednesday.
Cornerback Cor’Dale Flott (quad) was limited a second consecutive day.
Word on Wednesday was that Giants linebacker Brian Burns is likely to miss time with a sprained ankle and Thursday’s practice did nothing to suggest otherwise.
Burns missed practice for the second straight day and it looks like a long shot that he’ll be making it back to full enough health to play against the Titans on Sunday. The Giants will also be without quarterback Jaxson Dart for that game and left tackle Andrew Thomas may be missing as well.
Thomas was limited by a groin injury on Wednesday, but he was out of practice altogether on Thursday. The Giants will provide another update and issue injury designations on Friday.
Cornerback Deonte Banks (calf), defensive lineman Shelby Harris (toe), and safety Tyler Nubin (calf) were limited participants. Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (thigh), cornerback Nic Jones (shoulder), right guard Francis Mauigoa (neck), linebacker Micah McFadden (neck), wide receiver Malik Nabers (shoulder), and cornerback Greg Newsome (rib) were all full participants.
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers returned to Monday night’s loss to the Rams after hurting his shoulder and he gave an update on how he’s feeling at a Thursday press conference.
Nabers, who was listed as a limited practice participant on Wednesday’s injury report, said that he had X-rays done on his right shoulder and said “I’ll be fine” when asked about his outlook for this week.
“Good result. I’m smiling, I’m out there, playing, catching the ball, so good results,” Nabers said, via SNY.
Nabers has dealt with previous shoulder issues, but declined to say if Sunday’s injury was related to anything he dealt with in the past.
The Giants will issue their injury designations for Sunday’s game against the Titans on Friday, but it doesn’t sound like Nabers has any question about his availability.
The heat was on for the Eagles and the Titans during Sunday’s game in Nashville.
Temperatures in the high 90s and a heat index that went even higher drove the temperature of the playing surface at Nissan Stadium to 157 degrees according to the Fox broadcast. Players were changing cleats before they melted and spraying their feet with water to try to keep them cool, but Eagles guard Cam Jurgens said after the game that his feet were “still hurting.”
“Halftime was like a NASCAR pit crew helping me get ready for the second half,” Jurgens said, via Tim McManus of ESPN.com. “That turf was just radiating.”
Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata said that the heat coming off of the turf field was another reason why he would favor playing on grass.
“I’ve never thought about how hot a stadium can be if it’s turf. [The heat] just sits there and bounces up into you,” Mailata said. “We’ve got to bring it up. This is why we want all grass fields, to create a standard of play in the league where we’re not putting players in dangerous positions if we don’t have to.”
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson called playing in those conditions a “mental test” and it was one that the Eagles were able to fight through well enough to win 24-20 and improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Eagles were expected to beat the Titans easily today in Tennessee. Philadelphia won, but it wasn’t easy.
The Titans were competitive throughout the game and took a 20-17 lead with two minutes to go, but the Eagles came back with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Jalen Hurts hitting Darius Cooper in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in a 24-20 victory.
The Eagles got next to nothing from Saquon Barkley, who was injured on Philadelphia’s first offensive snap, missed the rest of the first half, and was limited in the second half. Barkley finished with four carries for nine yards and one catch for 11 yards.
Titans quarterback Cam Ward showed promise, completing 13 of 20 passes for 183 yards and also running for two touchdowns. The game ended, however, with Ward setting up to throw a Hail Mary and getting nowhere close.
The Eagles are 2-0, but neither win has been particularly impressive. The Titans are 0-2, but they have to feel like today’s game showed progress.
