The Tennessee Titans have a lot to prove in 2026 after a 3-14 season in 2025. But five weeks into 2026, the wheels of their bus are falling off as they now stand at 0-5. While Titans CEO Burke Nihill apologized on behalf of the team to the Tennessee fans for putting them through this pain, the note of apology landed him in trouble. Fans say it’s not Nihill’s own words.
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“Titans Fans, We’re sorry. You’ve spent far too many Sunday afternoons leaving Nissan Stadium disappointed, and you’re tired of it. Many of you have stood by the Titans for more than a quarter century, and that loyalty deserves far better than what we’ve given you,” read the part of the email that the fans received from Tennessee. “It’s an incredible privilege to spend our professional lives working for your football team, which is what makes it so painful to know we’ve been letting you down.
“The magic of football is that it brings our community together to spark joy and create lifelong memories. For far too long, our team’s performance hasn’t delivered that. The football operation is working tirelessly to build the competitive team you deserve. Winning matters most, by a wide margin. We understand that.”
It’s not that the Titans have given their blood, sweat, and tears and yet they lost.
The Titans continue to struggle on both sides of the ball. Cam Ward and the offense are producing a league-low 246.4 yards and 11.6 points per game, while the defense has forced only two turnovers in five outings.
Ward has found little success adapting to Brian Daboll’s offensive system. He has shown limited development under the new offensive coordinator, while continuing to struggle with pocket composure, accuracy, and decision-making speed. In last week’s game against Houston, he completed 23 of 36 attempts for just 170 yards, recording an interception and being sacked four times.
Last season’s struggle has seeped into this season, which is now testing the fans’ patience. The franchise has suffered 33 defeats in its last 39 games and has not won since Week 16 of last season, having lost seven straight since then. Since Michael Borgonzi’s arrival before the 2025 season, the team has recorded just three victories.
In such a sensitive time, the fact that the Titans CEO is writing on behalf of the team and could not find time to pen his own words is what makes things worse. After all, at this point in time, all fans look for is transparency.
Even though the email has been suspected of being written by AI, Nihill had a proper interview with ESPN.
“I personally feel a sense of stability,” he told ESPN. “I believe that Mike Borgonzi and Robert Saleh are ultimately going to get this team out of the woods and restore it to competitive football. The train is on the tracks. It just hasn’t picked up momentum, but it will.
“I can confidently say this organization is in a place where there is organizational belief in Mike, in Robert, and they absolutely have all the support they need to get this train moving and moving faster. The first thing I would say back to the fans is just that we’re sorry. There’s nobody in this building that doesn’t feel … a sense of grief about it, because not only are we fans of the team as well, but we feel the sense of responsibility to deliver. And we’ve let our fans down because football is supposed to be fun.”
The Titans’ latest blow came from the Houston Texans, as Tennessee lost 26-3, being limited to a single-digit score for the second time this season. It prompted Titans insider Easton Freeze of A to Z Sports to create an online survey. The results were crystal clear: the fans are not confident with controlling owner Amy Adams and CEO Nihill on the driver’s wheel.
Of the 7,806 respondents, 3,441 gave Adams the lowest possible score of 1, while 1,171 rated her a 2 and 1,300 gave her a 3. With more than 75% assigning her a score of 3 or below, the results captured the unfiltered feelings of the fans. Now that the email has a robotic and dry language, things blew up.
“Sorry but an AI email isn’t going to fix the mess he has created,” wrote a fan.
“Genuine linguistic accountability. Zero commitment accountability,” wrote another fan.
“Burke Nihill could fix a lot of things by resigning,” a comment read.
“Word salad,” wrote a fan.