NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy's debut came at an unfortunate time in the same week that the organization moved on from second-year coach Brian Callahan.
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, the former Titans coach who led the team to an AFC Championship Game and two AFC South Division titles over his six-year tenure in Nashville, was returning for the first time since being fired after the 2023 season.
The result was a 31-13 loss that ended with fans chanting Vrabel's name as he jogged into the locker room. Vrabel said he has moved on but was appreciative of the support.
"I'm happy for our players," Vrabel said after the game. "They're figuring out how to win. It's humbling having these people, whoever that is, cheering for us."
In all fairness, the crowd was split between Patriots and Titans fans, but there wasn't a whole lot to cheer for in terms of Tennessee in Game 1 under McCoy.
McCoy said last Wednesday that he wanted his team to stick together and play four quarters of football in hopes of playing their best game of the year.
That lasted for roughly one half.
The Titans (1-6) got off to a fast start, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and jumping to a seven point lead, their biggest of the season. But the Patriots (5-2) reeled off 21 consecutive points -- starting with a touchdown near the end of the first half.
"We got going out there doing a great job and got rolling through the game and did some really nice things," McCoy said of the fast start. "[Cam Ward] played a nice first half for us. ... It's disappointing the way the game went after the end of the first half."
The start was better, but the end result was the same: Another frustrating loss for the Titans.
"It's just a matter of we got to find a way to play better," McCoy said. "We're going to coach extremely hard, and that's the way it's going to be. No player is out there trying to make a mistake, but we also have to coach them and talk about the little things, the fine details that it takes to get over this hump.
"As coaches, too, we've got to look at ourselves and say how do we help the players? Because it's all about the players."
Ward, the No. 1 pick in April, had a costly fumble that was returned for a touchdown by K'Lavon Chaisson in the third quarter. It was Ward's fifth lost fumble, the most in the NFL. He said he couldn't narrow down the reason for the fumbles to anything other than simply having to hold the ball tighter.
It should be noted that Ward had only three lost fumbles in his final college season at Miami and 13 over his five-year collegiate career.
Entering Week 7, Ward's eight turnovers were tied for the third-most in the league. That total only got worse with the fumble and late-game interception by Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones.
Ward showed flashes in the first half by completing 11 of his 16 pass attempts for 148 yards and a touchdown.
McCoy vowed to focus more on the things that Ward has done well this season, so he, playcaller Bo Hardegree and offensive coordinator Nick Holz dialed up more play-action passes for Ward in the first half -- where he was good on all six attempts for 92 yards and a 38-yard touchdown.
The score that went to fellow rookie Chimere Dike was a call that Ward had been waiting to hear for a while now.
"I was ready for that play," Ward said. "We had that play on the sheet for about three, four weeks. So whenever he called it, I got to smiling in the huddle."
Despite the result, McCoy's message of togetherness seems to have stuck with the team. Titans right tackle JC Latham said Tennessee needs to stick together rather than splintering apart during the tough times to avoid making an already bad situation worse.
Things don't get much easier in Week 8, as the Titans hit the road to face the AFC South-leading Indianapolis Colts (6-1), but they know there are still 10 games left.
"It might not be our time right now, but we just gotta find ways to keep building and stacking," linebacker Cedric Gray said. "Our time will come. It feels a lot better when you stay through the s---, and work through the s--- together, and you finally come out on top at the end."