The Tennessee Titans locker room won’t be celebrating after Sunday, but rookie Carnell Tate has every right to.
Tate put together his most complete performance as a pro against Baltimore, hauling in 9 of his 12 targets for 145 yards.
Sunday marked Tate’s first career 100-yard outing.
Per ESPN’s Turron Davenport, his 145-yard display stands as the highest single-game receiving mark by a Titans rookie since A.J. Brown exploded for 153 against the Raiders back in 2019.
It was also the team’s first 100-yard performance since Calvin Ridley’s on 10/5/2025 at ARI, per Paul Kuharsky.
Although Tate’s fumble in the second half was costly, the rookie managed a breakout performance when his franchise has been down in a rut.
Carnell Tate Goes 100+ Yards Despite Costly Fumble
Down 21-7 with under one minute remaining in the second quarter, Ward hit Carnell Tate for a huge 35-yard gain into Ravens territory. Star Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton forced a fumble recovered by his teammate.
Tyler Loop converted the opportunity into a 64-yard field goal. Had the Titans scored and narrowed the advantage to 21-14, we’d have had an intriguing second half. He also drew several penalty flags from the secondary.
“No, I mean, I don’t really look at that many at the end result of the game,” Tate said post-game per Buck Reising. “I don’t really care about what happened as far as overall individual stats.”
“I mean, at the end of the day, you can’t let the last play affect the next play. So you just go out there and you just laugh it off, stay loose and stay in the game,” he added about the fumble.
“I switched my glove on that one, but it’s just, go out there and do what I was doing for the rest of the game. Just catch the ball. Like they always say, it’s the ones you don’t see,” he added.
A lot of things went Tennessee’s way, and they still came up short.
Lamar Jackson didn’t play in the second quarter, and that was one of the reasons why the Titans could come close to winning. Jackson went out with 222 yards passing and 2 touchdowns in the first half.
Jackson’s ankle got rolled up by Titans defensive end Jermaine Johnson II on a sack. He went out as questionable and didn’t come back for the rest of the game.
All said and done, head coach Robert Saleh was still proud of Tate’s performance vs. the Ravens.
Robert Saleh on Tate’s Milestone
“I really enjoyed his run game stuff,” head coach Saleh said when asked about Tate’s record. “Like, he’s surprisingly, I shouldn’t say surprisingly. But he’s a tough son of a gun.
“He’ll go in there. He’ll get dirty, and he’ll dig out safeties. So I love his run-blocking demeanor. He’s not afraid to get in there and get messy. And then from a route-running standpoint, he’s getting better every day. He’s understanding… and I think he’s done a great job of attacking every day and getting better.”
Tate popping off wasn’t entirely out of nowhere, so it definitely isn’t surprising. He’s been teasing this kind of breakout for weeks.
But one shining rookie receiver doesn’t fix a broken house.
Sitting at 0-4, Tennessee has far bigger fires to put out across the roster, and right now, they look every bit like a team fighting for top draft positioning.
Rookie Carnell Tate Makes History for Titans Despite Loss to Ravens