NASHVILLE – Titans rookie Fernando Carmona Jr. has a new look – a shaved head to help him deal with the Tennessee heat.
"It feels good, man," Carmona said with a smile. "When the breeze hits it, in these hot, training camp practices, it feels good to have the air on the dome."
Carmona has the same playing style he's used all his life, though, and it's working.
A fifth-round pick of the Titans in the 2026 NFL Draft, the 6-foot-5, 316-pound offensive lineman likes to push people around with his physical style of play.
Carmona started at right guard for the Titans in the preseason opener, and he played 28 snaps in all. By all accounts, Carmona more than held his own.
"It was his opportunity and Carmona's doing a great job," Titans coach Robert Saleh said. "He put his foot in the door and he's doing his best to pry it open and blast through that thing. So, he's done a nice job. … He's steady, he's very smart. He knows what to do, he communicates well, he executes, he's strong in there, so he's not getting pushed around. You just want a steady guy. I always tell a lineman: Just die a slow death and you'll play a long time. He's doing a great job just putting himself in position to be successful."
At the start of preseason play, Carmona was listed second on the depth chart at right guard, behind veteran Cordell Volson. But in this week's joint practice with the 49ers, and then in Thursday's preseason opener, Carmona worked with the first group.
The competition is still ongoing, of course.
The Titans still have two preseason games left, and joint practices with the Seahawks and Bears before the games. Not to mention the Titans have plenty of training camp practices as well.
Carmona, who started 49 of 50 college games over three seasons at San Jose State and one at Arkansas while playing tackle and guard, plans to keep working, and doing his thing.
"All I know is I have to continue to work hard," Carmona said. "There's a lot of great people in this room, and I just have to work hard. I know they're going to work hard, so I have to continue to be me."
So, what is Carmona all about?
"I just want to be known as a hard worker, somebody who plays with a lot of violence," Carmona said. "Really those are the two main things. Everything else will figure itself out from there. If I can just work hard and continue to play with violence, things will work themselves out."
Titans quarterback Cam Ward is among those interested to see how things play out.
Carmona and the offensive line did a nice job in the run game against the 49ers, and the unit also gave Ward some clean pockets to work.
The Titans open the regular season in less than a month, on September 13 against the Jets.
"Carmona is real tough, he's real physical," Ward said. "He's a great draft pick for us, and I think the best thing about him is that he doesn't care what no one thinks of him. He has a pretty straightforward mindset. He's a great person in the locker room. He's a hard worker, and if he's right there by the time the season comes around, I'm more than happy to have him protecting me."
