NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are back home following a 10-day road trip and a split of their first two preseason games.
How much the time together helps remains to be seen. The Titans are a work in progress, rebuilding after three straight losing seasons and leaning heavily on a rookie quarterback and a lot of other young players.
“At the end of the day, there’s not a whole lot of negatives to the whole process," second-year coach Brian Callahan said Saturday. "And it’s going to help us down the road.”
The Titans wrapped up the road swing by beating Atlanta 23-20 on Friday night. Cameron Ward is 7 of 15 for 109 yards passing over five series through the first two exhibitions. Fellow rookie Gunnar Helm had a nice 25-yard touchdown catch on a pass from backup Brandon Allen.
Cedric Gray, a 2024 fourth-round draft pick out of North Carolina, got the start competing for an inside linebacker job with James Williams Sr. Gray had a half-sack, led Tennessee with seven tackles and had an interception wiped out by a penalty.
How the Titans improve rests largely on Ward's development, and they've been pleased so far with what the No. 1 overall pick out of Miami has done to this point. One throw against Atlanta — on a deep incompletion on second-and-13 to veteran Van Jefferson — sums up how Ward sees things.
Callahan said after the game that Jefferson dropped an “incredible throw.” Ward took the blame for not putting the ball in a better location. The Titans coach credited the rookie with knowing how to have conversations and having a leadership quality of knowing what tone and how to talk to each person.
Ward is very open to coaching and criticism of how he needs to improve. The rookie also never pins blame on someone unless he's “adamantly sure” somebody made a mistake, according to Callahan.
“It’s a conversation, ‘Hey, what could I have done better here to help?’” Callahan said of Ward's approach. “And I think that’s what’s allowed him to improve at the rate he’s improved as he’s very much willing to take coaching and take criticism and open himself up to be where do I need to be better.”
The clock is ticking for the Titans, who have two padded practices before their home exhibition finale against Minnesota on Friday night. The team went 3-14 last season losing the final six games.
That earned it the chance to select Ward, and first-year general manager Mike Borgonzi did some maneuvering to wind up with nine draft picks in April.
Callahan's task is getting those first- and second-year players ready for the NFL by Sept. 7 at Denver while also preparing the veterans. He said there's a balance, with the only way young players improve is by playing.
“When you have opportunities to let those guys go grow, they got to go grow,” Callahan said.
In the NFL, winning is all that matters. The Titans have fired two general managers and a coach since December 2022.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes to put ourselves in position to win on top of it,” Callahan said. “That’s that at the end all be all. That’s our job.”
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Tennessee Titans quarterback Cameron Ward talks to his teammates on the sideline during the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Tennessee Titans linebacker Cedric Gray (51) sacks Atlanta Falcons quarterback Easton Stick, right, during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tennessee Titans, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.
Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.
“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”
Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.
Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.
“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.
Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”
He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.
Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”
A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.
“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”
Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.
China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.
China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.
Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.
Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)
