Robert Saleh shares surprising take about Titans' defense after win over Seahawks

While the Tennessee Titans notched a 19-16 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in Sunday night's preseason game, the Titans' starting defense gave up two first-quarter touchdowns to Seahawks backups.

Specifically, Elijah Arroyo caught a 36-yard touchdown pass thrown by Drew Lock. Later, Jacardia Wright rushed for a 69-yard score. 

Following the contest, first-year Titans head coach Robert Saleh shared a somewhat surprising reaction to those two lowlights for his club.

Titans defense "was pretty good" against Seahawks despite the two touchdowns

"The two plays are hateful," Saleh said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "The pass play, I’m glad it happened, because that is a fundamental issue in the defense that if you don’t get those reps, you don’t recognize it fast enough, and for it to happen, glass half full, glad it happened. Half empty, it’s a sh---- thing that happened. . . . Those two plays, wish we had them back, but overall I thought the defense was pretty good today." 

Those two plays could help explain why pockets of Tennessee fans have low expectations for what Saleh's squad will be able to achieve from September through January. There are concerns that second-year quarterback Cam Ward is not developing as hoped under first-year offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Titans seventh among the betting favorites at +1700 odds to finish the campaign with the fewest wins in the NFL. 

The Titans will finish the preseason with a matchup versus the Chicago Bears on Aug. 29. Following Sunday's win, Saleh expressed confidence that his defense will make needed corrections before Tennessee opens the regular season with a home game against the New York Jets, his former employer, on Sept. 13. 

Titans defense will "100%" get problems fixed

"Like I said, I’m glad it happened because it’s an easy fix," Saleh added. "For the player to feel that, it’s like, 'I get it now.' It’s a really cool a-ha moment. Unfortunately, it happened in a game-like atmosphere. Thank God it was preseason. One hundred percent will get fixed."

As of Monday, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Titans as three-point favorites over the Jets.