JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After losing No. 13, a week away from the end, the Titans continued talking about their faith.

They are on track, it’ll show up, they need to stick together and endure.

We heard much of the same after Sunday’s 20-13 loss in Jacksonville, the second loss in three weeks to the Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars safety Antonio Johnson (26) breaks up a pass intended fro Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Jaguars safety Antonio Johnson breaks up the Titans' last chance/ ASSOCIATED PRESS

The players are wired to believe things will work because they are among a tiny percentage of people in their industry for whom things have worked out. Still, it’s hard to comprehend why – no matter how well they practice, no matter how they see certain things come to fruition -- when the results are so regularly bad, with those 13 losses by an average of 29-17, they remain believers.

And the lessons. So many lessons.

You’d think after Loss 10 or 11 they’d have enough but they’ve continued to stack them, saying after each how much they are learning. Maybe we can all look forward to the day they are winning 13 and looking back at the PhDs they got in 2024. But right now, it seems like their overflowing notebooks and all that classroom time keep producing the same test results, the sort that gets you held back.

“Schematically there are lessons, but also just generally adversity,” Mason Rudolph said. “It’s taught me a lot. I think it makes you appreciate the wins more and probably brings you closer as a unit, going through something that’s tough.”

BryMakThat too is a popular topic, how close all this is making this team.

But about half of them will be gone by the time 2025 kicks off. A big reason this team is so bad is that it has so many players who are not good enough. Nicholas Petit-Frere, benched four times in games this season, was a healthy scratch, and replacement Jaelyn Duncan was out pretty early with an injured shoulder. He was replaced by John Ojukwu, who the team likes as a tackle-eligible sixth lineman, just not one of the five.

All three should be upgraded.

Also among players who saw significant time in this game as the Titans called on depth because of injury or relied on players who aren’t good enough: Daryl Worley (a special teamer who was at safety), Mike Brown (a special teamer who was at safety), Luke Gifford (a special teamer who was at inside linebacker), Jerome Baker (a veteran inside linebacker who’s offered very little since arriving in the Ernest Jones trade), Tyler Boyd (a possession receiver who can’t run) and Rudolph (a backup QB who needs to be holding a clipboard.)

Callahan said they needed one more play for a chance to win the game and didn’t get it. Is he suggesting the Titans would have gone for 2 if they scored a touchdown on their last-ditch drive? Because 7 points were only getting the Titans into overtime. The Jaguars found their play, he said, in a tipped ball turnover that they turned into a touchdown.

in the second quarter, Jordan Jefferson got a piece of a Rudolph pass intended for Julius Chestnut and Devin Lloyd intercepted it. Five plays and 43 yards later, Parker Washington had a TD catch over Roger McCreary, though the placement of his second foot seemed questionable.

The most penalized team in the league had a center who couldn’t grip the ball and was called for an illegal snap and a quarterback who couldn’t align properly in a Wildcat formation and was flagged for lining up in the neutral zone. 

“We’ve repped that a million times,” Callahan said. “I didn’t think that was that challenging a thing to execute.”

But have faith, right? A week 17 amateurish mistake is another learning moment that's helping form bonds that will pay off.

What else are they going to say, I guess?

We can discuss the draft spot, but it’s taboo for them and out of their lane.

If the Patriots win at home against the Bills and the Titans lose at home to the Texans in Week 17, the Titans will draft first overall. If they both lose the Titans will draft second.

If the Titans win they could fall as far as eighth. 

The losing isn’t deadening anything for Callahan and he hopes it’s not having that effect on his team.

“I hope they are not numb to it, it sucks, it’s terrible,” he said. “There is no joy in this process, there is no fun in this. I feel it every day I walk into work, I feel it every day I stand up here in front of you guys. Nothing is enjoyable about this.

“But I don’t get numb to any of it and I would hope nobody gets numb to any of it. Our job is to try to fix it. To fix whatever problems we’ve got to fix, to add whatever players we need to add to make sure we have a better team moving forward.”

Callahan's season is nearing its end. Indications are he’s safe. Ran Carthon will have to add those players his coach is talking about. If he survives the season the players he added just helped produce.

Cron Job Starts