A gritty opener, a missing Pro Bowler and a road test in Tennessee for the Eagles

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Coach Nick Sirianni wants his Philadelphia Eagles to remember just how hard winning in the NFL really is and take time to enjoy each victory.

“It’s so important that joy comes after every time,” Sirianni said. “I already know how I’m going to feel if we lose. That is a feeling that’s hard to get over. You better appreciate the things and know how hard it is and appreciate those things after a win.”

The Eagles have won a lot with Sirianni, reaching the playoffs in each of his first five seasons and going 1-1 in the Super Bowl. They just opened his sixth season with a 24-22 win over Washington that might not garner any style points. Still, the Eagles improved to 6-0 in season openers with Sirianni.

Now Philadelphia visits the struggling Tennessee Titans (0-1) on Sunday to kick off a two-game road swing. Oh yeah, the Eagles also have the NFL's best road winning percentage at .698 (30-13) since 2021, and they're 10-3 in that span against AFC teams.

The Eagles have to figure out who replaces three-time Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson, who went on injured reserve Tuesday with an injured knee. Sirianni likes Philadelphia's options behind the veteran, but not having Dickerson will be different.

“There haven’t been many games that I’ve been the head coach here that he wasn’t playing football for us,” Sirianni said of Dickerson. “Obviously, going to miss him like crazy, but really excited about that room and the depth of that room and where we are there.”

Tennessee opened the 28th and final season at Nissan Stadium with a 23-10 loss to the New York Jets. The Titans were dominated across the board in that game with issues new coach Robert Saleh says are correctable.

Right tackle JC Latham called the loss humbling and a reality check: "We know what our identity is, and that wasn't it."

The loss appeared to be Tennessee finding new ways to lose with new coaches and players after a string of four miserable seasons. The Titans not only hired Saleh as a new coach, they also spent heavily in free agency trying to add talent to a young roster. Saleh said their goal Sunday isn't to prove anyone wrong.

“It’s just prove that we can get better, prove that we can compete and prove that we’re a team that’s capable of stringing together four quarters and win football games,” Saleh said.

Philadelphia (1-0) at Tennessee (0-1)

When/where to watch: Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, Fox

Latest odds: Eagles by 7.

Against the spread: Eagles 0-1, Titans 0-1.

Last game: Eagles beat Washington 24-22, and the Titans lost 23-10 to the Jets.

Last meeting: Eagles beat the Titans 35-10 on Dec. 4, 2022, in Philadelphia.

Series record: Eagles lead 8-5.

The Titans run defense against Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts. Tennessee spent heavily adding linemen John Franklin-Myers, Jermaine Johnson II and Jacob Martin to the roster. The Titans gave up 152 yards rushing on 39 attempts to the Jets, including 10 straight run plays in a 19-play drive. Barkley and Hurts combined for 129 rushing yards.

— The Eagles are visiting Nashville for only the fourth time since the Titans moved into Nissan Stadium in 1999.

— The Eagles are 14-4 in September since the start of the 2021 season.

— The home team has won five of the past six in this sporadic series.

— The Titans are hosting back-to-back games to open a season for the first time since 2010.

— Eagles QB Jalen Hurts threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns last week.

— Eagles WR Dontayvion Wicks had two catches for 73 yards and a TD in the opener.

— TE Dallas Goedert led the Eagles with 77 yards receiving and two TDs last week.

— Titans LB Anthony Hill tied for the NFL lead with 16 tackles in Week 1, the most by a rookie in his debut since 2000. Hill also defended two passes.

— Titans QB Cam Ward threw for 140 yards and a TD last week.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) congratulates wide receiver Elic Ayomanor (5) after he scored a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh speaks to journalists following an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni calls from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (97) celebrates with teammates after stopping the Washington Commanders on a two-pint conversion attempt during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) takes the field for an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top official at the Kennedy Center said Thursday that he closed the iconic performing arts center temporarily due to “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration" of the aging building.

Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center's executive director and chief operating officer, said in a federal court filing that the building will be closed for at least seven days to "assess existing safety risks in those portions of the main building exhibiting severe structural deterioration.”

The temporary closure, which occurred without notice Wednesday, is separate from a vote Tuesday by the Kennedy Center's board to close the performing arts center indefinitely for repairs, Floca and other officials said. The closure was based on an inspection of the roof terrace canopy and a partial ceiling collapse earlier this month, Floca said. The closure may be extended after evaluation next week, he said.

The announcement of the closure came in response to a court case filed by a Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee and sought an emergency court hearing to prevent what she called the building's “unlawful closing.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has led efforts to block President Donald Trump’s name from being added to the building. Beatty had a verbal confrontation with the Republican president Tuesday during a virtual board meeting.

Beatty's lawyers said in a court filing Thursday that the board members' “rationale that they are only temporarily closing the Kennedy Center is a plain pretext to justify shutting down the Center permanently. The facts before the Court are deeply concerning.”

They urged U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to hold a hearing to clarify the board's actions and intent. They also asked the judge “to make crystal clear” that his order prohibits demolition of the building.

The Trump-aligned board, chaired by the president, voted to close the center after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.

Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on the board, said Wednesday that his efforts to restore the aging building deserve recognition, “because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down. It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape.”

Congress has allocated $257 million to cover the repairs, but Trump said they only would happen if the board was permitted to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.

On Thursday, Barbra Streisand, a Kennedy Center honoree in 2008, questioned the closing of the center for repairs and called the controversy surrounding its operation “galling and painful to witness.”

Of Trump’s attempts to add his name to the center, she said in a statement to The Associated Press: “You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”

The Kennedy Center board voted in August to inscribe Trump's name on the Kennedy Center’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” If the Trump Kennedy Center Fund reached $100 million, another inscription would be added reading “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

The plaza in front of the Kennedy Center would also have been renamed in Trump’s honor.

All of those proposals were shot down Tuesday by Cooper, who ruled that nothing could happen “without Congress’s blessing.”

Cooper ruled in May that the Kennedy Center illegally added Trump’s name to the building, ordering it removed. The institution’s leaders complied in June but left a tarp and scaffolding in place where Trump’s name was once displayed.

Streisand told AP she was deeply honored to be included in the 31st annual class of Kennedy Center Honorees, adding, “for me, and for so many artists, that honor represented something larger than a career recognition. It represented a belief in the importance of art to the life of a democracy.”

Associated Press writer Glenn Gamboa in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Fencing is installed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Laura Bligh of Vienna, Va., holds a protest sign outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and board member of the Kennedy Center, attends an event with fellow Democrats to denounce the economic policies of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A tarp covers portions of the sign at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Barricades are installed in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)