Robert Saleh on Titans defense vs Browns: 'Our tackling sucked'

Tennessee Titans first-year coach Robert Saleh continued to vent on his defense, which gave up 491 yards on offense, a day after his team fell to 1-6 with 27-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns at Nissan Stadium .

His defense's effort on the last drive of the game resulted in a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give the Browns the win on Oct. 25. Yes, what many consider a blown false start call that preceded the final kick contributed to the loss.

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But that didn't change Saleh's opinion of his team's performance.

"Our tackling sucked yesterday," he said during his weekly morning Zoom meeting with reporters on Oct. 26. "The tackling on the last play of the game sucked, and talking to the referees about a guy being offsides is pointless.

Saleh also cited the Titans ' inability to rush the quarterback and stop the run as more reasons why the Titans, seven games into the season, sit second in the 2027 NFL Draft order , according to Tankathon.com .

"Right now we have a finishing problem," Saleh said.

The Titans play the Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) on the road Nov. 1 (noon CT, CBS).

Titans coach Robert Saleh defends Cam Ward

While his defense didn't defend well against the Browns, giving up 491 yards of total offense, Saleh did defend his quarterback, Cam Ward.

Ward, as he has most of the season, struggled through the first three quarters but woke up in time to give the Titans a chance to win. Ward's third-and-12 connection to Carnell Tate on the Titans' touchdown drive that tied the score 24-all late in the fourth.

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"I thought he played a good game, not an exceptional game," Saleh said. "He has things he has to fix.

"You can't possibly watch that film and say Cam Ward did not play good, winning football. You can't. ... If anyone's trying to pin that loss on him, you're just trying to make (expletive) up."

One of the things Saleh said Ward, who was 20-for-31 for 181 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception, needs to improve is his footwork.

"Old habits are hard to break, especially in the heat of battle," Saleh said. "When the bullets are flying and things get real, sometimes you revert back to old habits."

Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina .