NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans’ problems went from bad to worse on Tuesday afternoon when the team placed starting right guard Fernando Carmona and his primary backup, Jackson Slater, on injured reserve. An 0-3 team already staring down the barrel of 0-4 just lost one of the few position groups that had given it reason for optimism through the first month of the 2026 season.

The offensive line unit had been a pleasant surprise. A number of metrics showed the Titans were doing their job in pass protection, and doing it at an above-league-average level. Per Will Boling of 104.5 The Zone and Titans Radio, quarterback Cam Ward entered this week with the fourth-lowest pressure percentage faced in the NFL (31.3%) among quarterbacks with a minimum of 50 dropbacks, trailing only Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy, and Jacoby Brissett. Matt Stafford rounded out the top five.

Ward has been getting clean pockets and still flailing as an NFL quarterback. That’s what makes this injury situation so damaging to the evaluation process.

Losing Carmona and Slater guts Tennessee’s depth at right guard

Carmona, a rookie fifth-round pick out of Arkansas, left the game against the New York Giants early with an ankle injury and had to be carted off the field. He was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. Slater, a second-year player out of Sacramento State and Carmona’s direct backup, entered the game and finished it, but coach Robert Saleh informed reporters via Zoom on Monday that Slater had sustained a significant foot injury. Slater joined Carmona on injured reserve Tuesday.

Both players will miss a minimum of four games. Those four games are no slouches: at the Ravens, home for the Houston Texans, at the Indianapolis Colts, and home against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 25. Houston and Indianapolis feature the best defensive fronts of the bunch. Jared Verse hasn’t had a great start to the season, but the Browns are 2-1 and playing good football. Tennessee will not be favored in any of the four.

To lose Carmona is one thing. To lose Slater is a real blow because the Titans are now dealing with a group of undrafted free agents and late signings to fill the void. Garrett Dellinger or James Hudson are the names in the mix. Pat Coogan, the rookie sixth-round pick out of Indiana, is a center by trade — can he play guard? Those are the questions this coaching staff will have to answer.

The team made several transactions Tuesday. Tennessee signed guard Nick Broker to the practice squad, brought back linebacker Owen Pappoe and defensive back Jakob Robinson, and elevated running back Michael Carter and Dellinger from the practice squad to the active roster. Dellinger, who has one year of experience out of LSU, figures to be the next man up.

Peter Skoronski addresses the Titans’ brutal slow starts

The offensive line losses compound a problem that has plagued Tennessee all season: the inability to get off to competitive starts. Left tackle Peter Skoronski addressed the issue in the locker room at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night after the loss to the Giants.

“Not taking negative plays, seemingly not doing anything horribly, but just not doing anything well enough to be efficient and not really putting ourselves in good spots in third and long,” said Skoronski. “So yeah, you’re not going to survive that time of possession if it keeps being a thing. No, we haven’t. We’re not surviving now.”

Skoronski’s point is one the Titans have echoed internally. In the second half against the Giants, Tennessee had three drives reach the red zone. They came away with almost nothing. The lone score was a late touchdown to Wan’Dale Robinson. Ward had an opportunity to find Elic Ayomanor on the play where he threw the interception. A better ball there and the Titans are in position to win a one-score game on the road after trailing for three quarters.

They had it, and they blew it. Ward specifically blew it in that spot.

Baltimore looms as the biggest test yet for an undermanned Titans roster

The Ravens are not a great pass rush team right now, but that’s about the only consolation. Baltimore is coming off a dramatic win in Brazil over the Cowboys, and Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry will be looking at this game as a get-right opportunity. Tennessee will be the biggest underdog it has been all season, a double-digit spread in a year where the Titans have only been favored once — their season opener at home against the Jets, where New York ran them off the field.

The Titans will have the week to prepare, and this coaching staff will have to prove it can adapt and survive without two offensive line pieces that were contributing to the one unit doing its job. The run game remains inconsistent. The scoring output has been anemic. Ward has been erratic at best. It’s not getting any easier, but this is life in the NFL.