Skidding Titans on the verge of their highest NFL draft pick since at least 2015

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are living through a repeat of their worst season since the franchise left Texas in 1997.

Only this is much worse.

The 2014 team went 2-14 in Ken Whisenhunt 's first season as head coach.

If these Titans (3-13) lose Sunday against Houston, they would match the most losses in Tennessee thanks to the NFL’s move to a 17-game regular season.

Controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk fired a general manager in December 2022 as the Titans slumped from two-time defending division champs to a season-ending skid. She fired coach Mike Vrabel in January after a 6-11 season.

Now Brian Callahan goes into the final game of his debut season with five straight losses and seven of the past eight in the franchise's third straight losing season.

The lone win in that stretch? In Houston.

That 2014 season netted the No. 2 pick overall in the 2015 NFL draft, and Tennessee drafted quarterback Marcus Mariota who was benched in 2019 for veteran Ryan Tannehill.

There's plenty of pressure on this franchise. The Titans will be wearing their Houston Oilers' throwbacks on Sunday in hosting the Texans. They're currently selling personal seat licenses and season tickets for the $2.2 billion enclosed stadium being built next door scheduled to open for the 2027 season.

Callahan was asked about an NFL Network report that he and his staff would be back for the 2025 season. He said his conversations with Strunk have been positive and that he has talks with general manager Ran Carthon and Chad Brinker, president of football operations.

“I just come in and try to do my job as best I can and do it as long as they allow me to do it,” Callahan said Monday. “And if for some reason at some point, and hopefully it’s years from now when someone says we don’t need your services anymore, then that’s how it goes.”

The defense. The Titans have held eight opponents to 24 points or fewer this season, including the 20-13 loss to the Jaguars in Jacksonville. In coordinator Dennard Wilson's first season, they go into the finale third in the NFL in yards allowed and second against the pass.

They've held 11 opponents to fewer than 200 yards passing this season. The Titans also have 17 takeaways this season with eight interceptions since Week 12.

The offense. The Titans were shut out in the first half, and they wound up with their sixth loss this season by eight points or fewer. Mason Rudolph's lone interception was a tipped ball, but it was the 33rd turnover of the season for Tennessee — most in the NFL.

That's why Callahan said both Rudolph, who has started and lost the past two games, and second-year quarterback Will Levis will play Sunday. A decision on who starts will come later this week.

The Titans had a chance to try and force overtime or go for the win late. But Rudolph couldn't connect with a wide-open Chig Okonkwo on the left sideline. Then a fourth down pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was broken up at the goal line.

RB Tyjae Spears. The second-year back out of Tulane had the best game of his career and only a 5-yard loss on the play that knocked him out of the game cost him his first 100-yard rushing performance. Spears averaged 4.8 yards per carry.

LT JC Latham. The seventh pick overall out of Alabama has started every game, but he gave up another sack and four pressures against the Jaguars. He has allowed seven sacks this season and 43 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

Callahan said Latham is a run powerful run blocker who will only get better.

Spears (concussion) will have a hard time clearing the concussion protocol in a week. Jaelyn Duncan (shoulder) also is unlikely to play after lasting only 15 snaps in his second start at RT this season.

Callahan said RB Tony Pollard, who missed his first game this season with illness and an injured ankle, and RG Dillon Radunz (shoulder) could be back.

13 — The number of Titans starters in Jacksonville who did not start the season opener in Chicago. That includes seven on offense and six on defense because of injuries.

Callahan also started rookie Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and Darrell Baker at cornerback, sitting veteran Chidobe Awuzie who came off the bench for 35 snaps.

Lose one more game and finish with the No. 2 pick overall. If the New England Patriots lose to Buffalo, the Titans could land the top pick overall for the first time since 2016. That pick was traded two weeks before the draft for a handful of picks that netted three starters led by Derrick Henry.

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Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan looks to the field from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Tennessee Titans linebacker Jerome Baker, right, breaks up a pass intended for Jacksonville Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby (4) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph (11) is sacked by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (41) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) is tackled by Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown after catch during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan answers questions from reporters after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — NATO foreign ministers on Thursday debated an American demand to massively ramp up defense investment as the United States focuses on security challenges outside of Europe.

At talks in Antalya, Turkey, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said more investment and military equipment are needed to deal with threats posed by Russia and terrorism but also by China, which has become the focus of U.S. concern.

“When it comes to the core defense spending, we need to do much, much more,” Rutte told reporters. He underlined that once Russia's war in Ukraine is over, Moscow could reconstitute its armed forces within three years to five years.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “the alliance is only as strong as its weakest link.” He insisted that the U.S. demand for allies to invest 5% of their gross domestic product on defense over the next seven years is about “spending money on the capabilities that are needed for the threats of the 21st century.”

The debate on defense spending is heating up before the summit of President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts in the Netherlands on June 24-25. That gathering will set the course for future European security, including that of Ukraine.

In Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian delegations will hold their first direct peace talks in three years, though the timing is unclear. Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offer to meet face to face in Turkey this week. Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off Putin's decision to skip.

Meantime, Rubio, who is due in Istanbul on Friday, met with Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani on the sidelines of NATO meeting as Damascus seeks to reintegrate into the Mideast and beyond.

The NATO sessions focused on a new spending plan in the works. As Russia’s war on Ukraine entered its second year, NATO leaders agreed in 2023 to spend at least 2% of gross domestic product on national defense budgets. So far, 22 of the 32 member countries have done so.

The new plan is for all allies to aim for 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports and seaports.

While the two figures add up to 5%, factoring in infrastructure and cybersecurity would change the basis on which NATO traditionally calculates defense spending. The seven-year time frame is also short by the alliance’s usual standards.

Rutte refused to confirm the numbers but acknowledged the importance of including infrastructure.

It’s difficult to see how many members would reach a new 3.5% goal. Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain are not even spending 2% yet, though Spain expects to reach that goal this year, a year past the deadline.

The U.S. demand would require investment at an unprecedented scale. But Trump has cast doubt over whether the U.S. would defend allies that spend too little — an incentive to do more, even as European allies realize that they must match the threat posed by Russia.

Europe-wide, industry leaders and experts have pointed out challenges the continent must overcome to be a truly self-sufficient military power, chiefly its decades-long reliance on the U.S. as well as its fragmented defense industry.

“There is a lot at stake for us,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said. He urged NATO partners to meet the investment goals faster than the 2032 target "because we see the tempo and the speed, how Russia generates its forces now as we speak.”

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said his country should reach 2.5% by 2027, and then 3% by the next U.K. elections planned for 2029.

“It’s hugely important that we recommit to Europe’s defense and that we step up alongside our U.S. partners in this challenging geopolitical moment where there are so many precious across the world, and particularly in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

As an organization, NATO plays no direct security role in Asia, and it's unclear what demands the Trump administration might make of the allies as it turns its attention to China. The last NATO security operation outside the Euro-Atlantic area, its 18-year stay in Afghanistan, ended in chaos.

Asked whether the next summit communique will underline that Russia still poses the greatest threat to NATO allies, Rutte said, "We will see what is the best way to play that.”

Questions also hang over the way the leaders will frame NATO's commitment to Ukraine. The war has dominated recent summits, with envoys struggling to find language that would further anchor the country to the alliance without actually allowing it to join.

But this year, Washington has taken Ukraine's membership off the table. Trump has shown impatience with Zelenskyy and remains unclear whether the Ukrainian leader will be invited to the June meeting in The Hague.

Cook reported from Brussels, and Fraser from Ankara, Turkey.

NATO foreign ministers gather during a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, talks to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during an informal meeting of NATO's foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends a news conference at a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, right, talks to Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel as they arrive for a group photo during a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, center, talks to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, right, next to Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, left, as they wait for a group photo during a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte talks to journalists as he arrives for a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy talks to journalists as he arrives for a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

NATO foreign ministers pose for a group photo during their informal meeting in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks to journalists as he arrives for a NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, talks to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during an informal meeting of NATO's foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte talks to journalists as he arrives for NATO's informal meeting of foreign ministers in Antalya, southern Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint press statement with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio departs a lunch between President Donald Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)