NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have allowed 11 sacks through two games and been flagged 23 times for 193 yards.
In other words, they continue being their own worst enemy with an 0-2 start.
Click to Gallery
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan reacts after a touchdown was called back due to a penalty during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward passes during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward, left, runs for a first down as Los Angeles Rams linebacker Nate Landman defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward walks off the field after the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Titans in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall draft pick, is paying the physical price of those mistakes. He was sacked five times and stripped of the ball on one Sunday as the Titans lost their home opener 33-19 to the Los Angeles Rams.
“We just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot," Ward said. "My turnover, penalties cost us throughout the game both sides of the ball. We've just got to lock in.”
The Titans piled up four penalties in the seven plays after the opening kickoff and finished with 10 for 62 yards — not counting two that were declined. That's after being flagged 13 times for 131 yards in their season-opening loss in Denver.
“It’s not complicated in my opinion,” left guard Peter Skoronski said. “We can’t have them, especially pre-snap with the false starts. We can’t do it. We’ve got to be disciplined. There’s not tricks or anything to not having them. We’ve just got to be disciplined and don’t do that. It’s pretty simple.”
Coach Brian Callahan spent the offseason trying to get his Titans to stop hurting themselves with the penalties they can control. Through two games, they remain a problem he said they have to get fixed.
“Just things that are frustrating, very frustrating to be in that spot,” Callahan said. “It’s obviously something that we had a problem with last year. It was a problem before. It’s still a problem, and we’re trying like hell to get it fixed. So far, we haven’t been successful doing that.”
The Titans had a couple of false starts by right tackle John Ojukwu, starting in place of JC Latham. Veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler was flagged for being an ineligible receiver downfield on the second offensive play, wiping out a first down catch by Chimere Dike.
A defensive offside. A holding penalty on a kickoff return.
The costliest penalty came on a late flag for a blindside block by linebacker Cedric Gray, which wiped out a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown by Dike.
“I guess they said that I led with my shoulder,” Gray said. “I thought I led with my hands, but I just have to eat it, have to be a little bit smarter in that situation next time.”
The sacks are more dangerous to a franchise trying to rebuild with a rookie quarterback. The Titans gave up six sacks to the NFL's top pass rushing team in the opener, and they nearly matched that Sunday. It didn't help that right tackle JC Latham was out with a strained hip.
Ward showed signs of growth, scrambling away from a pass rusher, throwing back to the left to fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor for their first NFL touchdown in the second quarter. Ward also took what he could get under pressure, scrambling up the middle to give Joey Slye a better distance to kick.
The rookie's one fumble turned into a touchdown when the Titans trailed only 20-16 early in the fourth quarter.
Ayomanor, who said the ball for his TD would go to Ward, said the quarterback's consistent personality helps the rookie and the rest of the Titans.
“Everybody’s going to make a bad play,” Ayomanor said. “But the thing that’s very unique about Cam is he makes a bad play and that’s it, he has a very short-term memory.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan reacts after a touchdown was called back due to a penalty during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward passes during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward, left, runs for a first down as Los Angeles Rams linebacker Nate Landman defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward walks off the field after the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Titans in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
