A 26-3 loss, a 0-5 start, and no QB change with Cam Ward still the Titans' starter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are sticking with Cam Ward as their starting quarterback, and first-year coach Robert Saleh said Sunday there's no thought of benching the second-year player hoping for an offensive spark.

“Cam is our starting quarterback,” Saleh said after a 26-3 loss to Houston. “We're going to give him every opportunity to be successful this year. We’re going to continue working with him, grinding with him, and trying to help him get better.”

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft now is 3-19 as a starter. His availability has been his biggest asset yet, though this latest loss dropped the Titans to 0-5.

Ward threw for 170 yards with one interception against the Texans as Tennessee finished with its worst offensive performance of the season. The Titans had just 187 total yards and their fewest points yet. Ward also was sacked four times all within the final 11 minutes.

The Titans do have veteran Mitchell Trubisky on the bench and Brian Daboll has been working to fit the scheme around what Tennessee does best. Saleh wants Daboll to keep studying to find what plays the Titans are comfortable with on offense, especially Ward.

“It’s just constant communication and trying to understand each other and grow,” Saleh said. “Just keep challenging and pushing the envelope with what we’re capable of.”

Ward said the Titans have to correct their mistakes fast and that everything they are messing up they've seen on film. Told that Saleh said he's the starting quarterback for the season, Ward said his process and work to be the player he wants to be is why he feels he is the quarterback for this opportunity.

“I love the criticism, I love everything that comes with the quarterback territory,” Ward said.

He also knows the Titans need to win games. He has thrown for 896 yards averaging only 5.8 yards per attempt. He has as many touchdowns (three) as interceptions (three), and the interceptions have come in the past three games.

“I just can't have a bad play,” Ward said. “That's what I think it's going to come down to. And if I do have a bad play, it can't be a bad play to decide the game.”

Ward said he will keep working with Daboll and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney working to get the offense moving and staying on the field. The quarterback also sounds as optimistic as his latest head coach that the Titans will turn around a franchise that now is 6-33 since the start of the 2024 season and quickly closing in on a fifth consecutive losing record.

“The results may not do that, may not show that, but we know it's a process before results,” Ward said. “But I mean we're just like y'all. We want results ASAP. But at the end of the day, we got to go through this to get to where we want. In the near future, we'll be able to get through it.”

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Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) escapes pressure from Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, right, during the second half of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh takes a question during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward (1) is sacked by Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (51) with help from defensive end Danielle Hunter (55) as guard Peter Skoronski (77) and Austin Schlottmann (51) look on during the second half of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A fan holds up a sign that makes reference to Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Tennessee Titans' Cam Ward jogs off the field after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A man whose toddler was among eight people killed in a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, said Sunday that the gunman was a grandfather who never seemed distressed or out of the ordinary.

“I think that was a front for him,” Julius Windham said as he stood at a memorial to victims of Friday’s shooting, including his 1-year-old daughter Amarianna, her pregnant mother and the woman’s 5-year-old son and unborn baby.

“Him every day, him smiling and being just — you would think of nothing like that would happen,” Windham said.

The 45-year-old gunman took his own life. Authorities have not released his name, but Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said he was related to seven of the victims. The eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman, he said. Police have not made their names public, either.

Mourners on Sunday placed candles, flowers and stuffed animals outside the home where the man opened fire shortly before 5 p.m. Friday. Windham wore a T-shirt with pictures of the women and children and the words, “Forever In My Heart.”

“Words can’t even explain what I’m going through right now,” Windham said. “But I gotta be strong for my community, you know what I'm saying? My family, my daughters, my sons, everybody.”

Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before two “distressed” women arrived and began pounding on the door, Lorah said. The gunman then came out and shot them as they ran toward him, before returning inside.

Responding officers found the two women dead outside. After deploying a drone and robot, they went inside and found the bodies of the 5-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl on the first floor; two more women and two young men in a stairwell; and the shooter on the second floor.

“Out of respect for the victims and the families, I will not discuss the details of what our officers encountered inside that home,” the chief said at a news conference.

“But I want our community to understand the gravity of what happened and the profound impact this tragedy has had on those involved and on our community as a whole,” he said.

Erie is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) north of Pittsburgh.

Lorah declined to discuss motive but suggested mental health could be a factor. He said investigators would talk to relatives and examine the cellphones of the women who were killed outside the home.

“They knew something was going on at that house,” Lorah said. “We have to figure out what that is.”

Nicole and Debra Eller, whose best friend was among the victims, said they've known the family for more than 30 years. Nicole Eller said the shooter “was a good guy, and then he started going downhill with everything.”

“They were a lovely family. Who would have thought this would ever happen?” Debra Eller said. “Oh my gosh, this is so upsetting. This should have never happened to her or the kids or anybody. His grandchildren, his kids, how can you do that?”

The Erie shooting was reminiscent of a 1982 massacre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in which a man killed 13 people, including five of his own children.

At a news conference on Saturday, Erie Mayor Daria Devlin addressed a portion of her remarks directly to the victims’ families.

“I am so deeply sorry,” Devlin said. “What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier. ... Our entire community is with you, we’re grieving with you. And we are here to support you.”

In this image from video provided by WJET, bystanders gather outside the scene of a shooting in Erie, Pa., on Friday evening, Oct. 9, 2026. (Matt Barnum/WJET via AP)

In this image from video provided by WJET, police gather outside the scene of a shooting in Erie, Pa., on Friday evening, Oct. 9, 2026. (Matt Barnum/WJET via AP)

In this image from video provided by WJET, police gather outside the scene of a shooting in Erie, Pa., on Friday evening, Oct. 9, 2026. (Matt Barnum/WJET via AP)

People gather at a memorial in Erie, Pa., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, outside the home where authorities say a gunman killed several people before killing himself on Oct. 9. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Julius Windham visits a memorial outside the home where authorities say a gunman killed multiple people, including Windham's daughter, in Erie, Pa., on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)