NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans came to work Monday with a different feel.
“The vibes are good all around in the building and in the locker room for sure,” rookie cornerback Marcus Harris said.
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Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) fights off a tackle attempt by Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit (9) in the second half of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Chimere Dike (17) celebrates with teammates after catching a touchdown pass in the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tennessee Titans linebacker James Williams Sr. (52) blocks a punt attempt by Cleveland Browns' Corey Bojorquez (13) in the second half of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass in the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Ending a seven-game skid will do that.
The Titans improved to 2-11 with a 31-29 win at Cleveland on Sunday, which hurt their prospects of picking No. 1 overall again in April but was good for the spirits of coaches and players in a season marked by defeats and the firing of a head coach. Cornerback Xavier Woods, who got his second interception of the season in Cleveland, said these Titans have been through a lot.
“So just getting a win, build some more confidence, and hopefully it will roll over as we get another win, it rolls over into the new year and into the next season,” Woods said. "But this year we just want to get a win.”
Tennessee has five rookie starters and 11 playing in all. Three other starters are in their second NFL seasons, and three third-year Titans are playing key roles as well.
It hasn't been easy with 10 opponents so far this season currently in playoff contention. The Titans are 1-2 against teams with losing records like themselves.
Learning how to win matters.
“It’s just big for everybody, big for the young players for them to really understand it doesn’t matter how you win, you just got to find a way to win and the game’s never over, so you just got to keep playing,” interim coach Mike McCoy said. “It’s a great example. Just keep fighting, keep fighting and win the game.”
For the first time this season, everything mostly worked. The defense forced two turnovers and two sacks and had a season-high 13 quarterback pressures. Special teams blocked a punt for the first time since Tim Shaw against Pittsburgh on Oct. 11, 2012 and also recovered a fumble on a 2-point conversion attempt. The offense turned those takeaways into 17 points.
The offense had a season-high 184 yards rushing for its best total in nearly a year and gave up only one sack. That's the best protection rookie Cam Ward has had all season, and he helped himself shaking off a would-be sack by Grant Delpit to throw away the ball.
Protecting a lead. The Titans, who don't have much experience in that this season, led 31-17 in the fourth quarter.
Then the defense gave up consecutive TD drives. The offense settled for a field goal after the blocked punt, then went three-and-out with a chance to run out the clock with the Browns trailing 31-23. That gave the ball back to Cleveland with 2:43 left to set up a finish that shouldn't have been that close.
Tony Pollard not only ran for a career-high 161 yards, he also had two touchdowns. The veteran also averaged 6.4 yards per carry for his best game this season.
Joey Slye. New NFL rules made kickoffs more tricky this season. Timing matters. Right after the Titans opened up a 14-3 lead late in the first quarter, Slye put the ensuing kickoff out of bounds. With the extra yardage, the Browns scored a touchdown four plays later.
LT Dan Moore Jr. returned after missing 10 snaps with a neck injury. Both center Lloyd Cushenberry (foot) and cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (Achilles tendon) have missed two straight games.
54 — Consecutive games since the Titans strung together back-to-back wins. Tennessee beat Denver on Nov. 23, 2022, then won at Green Bay on Nov. 17. Since then, the Titans are 11-42 overall.
The schedule doesn't help the Titans' bid to stack wins. They visit San Francisco (9-4) with the 49ers trying to improve their wild-card spot in the NFC.
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Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) fights off a tackle attempt by Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit (9) in the second half of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Chimere Dike (17) celebrates with teammates after catching a touchdown pass in the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tennessee Titans linebacker James Williams Sr. (52) blocks a punt attempt by Cleveland Browns' Corey Bojorquez (13) in the second half of an NFL football game in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass in the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/David Richard)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s address to Americans on the war with new missile attacks targeting Israel and the Gulf Arab states Thursday, underlining Tehran’s insistence that it rejected Washington’s outreach for a ceasefire while maintaining its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain planned to hold a call Thursday with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait, through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded passes in peacetime. The 35 countries, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait. The call will discuss “diplomatic and political measures” that could restore shipping once the fighting is over.
Washington has insisted that Iran allow ships to freely transit the strait, but Trump this week has said it is not up to the U.S. to force it, and in his address encouraged countries that receive oil through Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”
In his address, Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” while also insisting American “core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”
Iran's military said defiantly on Thursday that its armament facilities are hidden and will never be reached by Israeli or American attacks.
“The centers you think you have targeted are insignificant,” said Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the Iranian military’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
Just before Trump began his nearly 20-minute address on Wednesday, explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage. Less than a half hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was working to intercept incoming missiles.
Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech.
Following a joint statement in March condemning Iranian attacks on unarmed commercial vessels that called upon Iran to “cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the strait,” the 35 signatories were to hold a virtual meeting Thursday hosted by British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Though the oil and gas that typically transits the Strait of Hormuz primarily is sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region that were joining.
“Trump’s message was that the United States can sustain its own economic and energy ecosystem, while countries dependent on regional exports will either have to buy from the United States or manage the Strait themselves,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank wrote after the address.
“While Trump explicitly thanked U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf for their cooperation and allyship, an expedited U.S. withdrawal without securing the strait will leave many of these countries, whose economies are dependent on energy exports, in the lurch.”
No country appears willing to try and open the strait by force while the war is raging. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the group “will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and to resume the movement of vital commodities.”
Bahrain, which now holds the presidency of the United Nations Security Council, has been working to get the world body to address the crisis as well.
Though Iran has allowed a trickle of ships through the strait, it remains largely closed. Iran has also been repeatedly attacking Gulf Arab energy infrastructure, sending oil prices skyrocketing and giving rise to broader economic problems worldwide.
Following Trump's speech, Brent crude, the international standard, rose again and was at $108 in early spot trading, up nearly 50% from Feb. 28 when Israel and the U.S. started the war with their attacks on Iran.
The rising energy prices and stock market jitters have been putting increasing domestic pressure on Trump, who used his address to offer a defense of the war while also suggesting it was close to winding down.
He acknowledged American service members who had been killed and said: “We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan for a ceasefire, but Trump didn’t say anything about the diplomatic efforts or bring up his April 6 deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face severe retaliation from the U.S.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
Weissert reported from Washington and Rising reported from Bangkok.
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump walks from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
