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It was quite challenging weather conditions on Sunday in Nashville for the players in the Jets-Titans game, with temperatures in the game in the 90’s, reaching a high of 94.
Hot weather is tough any week of the season, but especially in Week 1, since the players have not played a complete tackle football game since the end of their last season.
You could see some of the players running out of steam late in the contest, especially on the Titans.
So after a game like that, as a player, you look forward to going into a nice air-conditioned locker room to cool down.
Only one problem for the Jets. The air-conditioning in the visiting locker room at Nissan Stadium was broken.
Kind of crazy in 2026 for this to happen in an NFL stadium, but perhaps this is another example of why the Titans need a new stadium, which they are getting next year.
And the stadium is going to have a retractable roof.
So that kind of begs the question on whether temperatures in the 90s are enough to close a roof.
Who makes that decision?
During the regular season, the home team decides if a roof is going to be closed, and during the playoffs, it’s the league office.
For a home game during the regular season, the home team must inform the league 90 minutes before the game if the roof will be closed.
My gut would tell me that they would not have closed the roof in Tennessee for yesterday’s weather, but theoretically any team with a retractable dome could do just that.
Another observation about the Titans stadium situation.
The press box location, where the media sits during the game, might be the best location in the league for the press.
It’s right above the lower bowl of the stadium, and in the middle of the field.
You will never see this again at an NFL stadium.
Most new stadium press boxes are on the roof in the corner of the end zone.
No team is ever going to give this space to the media again. Aside from how some of them feel about the media, the bigger factor in moving press boxes to less than ideal spots in stadiums is that the location a the press box, like at the old Nissan Stadium, is prime stadium real estate and is better used for premium seating and luxury boxes.
The old stadium in Buffalo had a similar location to the current Nissan Stadium, but they actually moved it about a decade ago to the roof and repurposed that old press box for premium seating.
From a business standpoint, it’s hard to argue any teams doing this.
They are in business to make money, and putting the media on the 50-yard line in the mid-section of the stadium is leaving a lot of money on the table . . .
It goes without saying that the Jets’ run-blocking on Sunday was superb, with every player on the line getting high marks.
But the tight ends were also superb, with all them, Jeremy Ruckert, Mason Taylor, Kenyon Sadiq and Jalani Woods, having key blocks on big runs.
Woods has turned into a dominating blocker, after coming into the league with the Indianapolis Colts, in 2022, considered more of a receiving tight end.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, on a 13-yard run by Breece Hall off right tackle, Woods mauled former Jets defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, opening a big hole.
I would not be surprised if he keeps this up, if we aren’t talking about Woods as one of the best blocking tight ends in the league by the end of the season.
He’s like having an extra tackle on the field . . .
Just saw Rex Ryan walking through the Nashville Airport with a Jets shirt on with no sleeves. He is something else.
Rex is really into the Jets with his son Seth on the coaching staff.
Rex Ryan lives in Nashville, so he was probably coming back from his TV gig at ESPN . . .
One thing the Jets needed to do this off-season was improve the collective instinct level of their defensive unit.
It looks like they have done that with several guys, like Demario Davis, and OLB Kingsley Enagbare. And we saw two examples in the Titans’ first series. Davis had a highly instinctive run stop to start the series, and one of the better defensive plays of the game, was when OLB Kingsley Engabare when he didn’t fall for a fake reverse by QB Cam Ward, and sacked the QB. It was a trick play and Enagbare didn’t fall for the trick, doing a great job reading his keys.
September 14, 2026
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