NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Marcus Mariota is throwing the ball effectively. DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry are running so well that fans already are tossing out nickname possibilities on social media, even if it just preseason.Defensively, the Titans have a few issues they need to clean up.Quickly.Tennessee (2-1) has allowed opponents to drive for a touchdown on the first possession of each of the first three preseason games, a worrisome trend for a franchise trying to turn around after winning a combined five games the past two seasons and with Dick LeBeau now in charge as coordinator.Coach Mike Mularkey said Sunday that the return of cornerback Perrish Cox, who has yet to play this preseason because of an injured ankle, should help the defense.When we settle down and take away the big play, I think thatll have a big part in stopping some of these drives, Mularkey said. To me, its not when the drives are but the big plays that helps these drives score points.The Titans ranked 27th in the NFL last season giving up more than 26 points per game despite 12th in fewest yards allowed.In Tennessees 27-14 win at Oakland, the Titans gave up a handful of big plays including a 42-yard kickoff return. Derek Carr also threw a 29-yard TD pass to Amari Cooper and a 41-yard pass to Michael Crabtree. Thats on top of the 44-yard TD pass to the Chargers in the preseason opener and a 61-yard TD pass to Cam Newton and the Panthers in the second exhibition.Thats too many for Mularkey.Obviously, were concerned about that, Mularkey said. Weve got to make some plays. Again I watch a lot of tape on these guys. Those big throws are some of the best throws that they make, some of the best throws by Derek Carr. ... Thats a tough pass to defend the way they throw it, and theyre good at it.The Titans made some big plays themselves against Oakland. Jurrell Casey sacked Carr, and David Bass picked up a fumble forced by Sean Spence that he returned 47 yards for a touchdown. They got the win despite giving up 440 yards.Casey said the Titans just need to clean up some things, including communicating better.Were letting too many plays get away, and were letting too many plays go and get over our head and up the middle of our defense, Casey said. We have to find a way to make this happen. A lot of times we come back and bounce from it, but I think we have to do a better job of getting the game started off.Cox is expected to return to practice this week, though he likely wont play in the preseason finale Thursday night at Miami (2-1). Mularkey said Mariota will play at best a series in that game with the Titans looking ahead to the season opener Sept. 11 against Minnesota.Game notes Quinton Spain, the undrafted free agent out of West Virginia in 2015, has won the starting job at left guard at least for the opener. Plans to rotate Sebastian Tretola with the starters on the offensive line fell through when the Titans put together a 14-play drive that took up more than 8 minutes of the second quarter. ... The Titans waived 12 players Sunday and still have a couple more moves to make before Tuesdays deadline to be at 75.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalkerVapormax Shoes Cheap .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Buy Vapormax Australia . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. http://www.australiavapormaxcheap.com/ . 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Anthony Ainley (1932-2004) The Wisden Almanacks obituaries have changed in recent years, from rather dry, fact-based accounts of a players career (longer if the chap went to the right school, or played in the Varsity Match) to, if at all possible, more rounded reviews of the persons life. Even jokes arent banned anymore. The change really started when Matthew Engel took over as editor in 1993. The whole book became more expressive, more characterful and more fun.I joined the Almanacks obituaries team before I started full-time for the Almanack itself. In 2004 I was still Cricinfos editor, and Matthew asked me to help out when I could. I was lucky that an alphabetical accident meant my first obituary was a memorable one.Anthony Ainley wasnt a first-class cricketer but an actor who won fame as The Master, the evil nemesis of Doctor Who. I knew he was a keen club cricketer, as Id played against him. I knew he batted in what looked like flying goggles, to protect his eyes for screen close-ups. And I knew - because hed done it to me - that if he felt tied down at the crease he would leap out, Trumper-like, with bat behind ear, and try to scythe you through covers. At one of our encounters hed had a tiff with a highly strung thespian team-mate and sloped off to take tea in his car. Gentle probing established that the argument wasnt to blame - he often did this, as he hated cheese, the ever-present staple of club teas, and brought his own food.My club had an enthusiastic chronicler at the time, who would drop off match reports to the local paper on his way home. His words of wisdom on this particular game obviously excited the sports desk, as the headline for our match report exclaimed that Inter-Galactic Terror had been visited upon Surrey.Don Bradman (1908-2001) Probably my most memorable obituary - or appreciation - came in 2001. We were setting up Wisden.com (which later merged with Cricinfo), and were coming to terms with the 24-hour nature of the beast. Late one cold February evening I received a phone call: Have you heard? Don Bradman has died.I hadnt heard. And there wasnt much time to reflect: the news, and an appraisal of the Don, had to go up online pronto. It was pushing midnight, but the words seemed to flow, and about half an hour later I pressed the button. Satisfyingly, my verdict was out there. Not long afterwards, the editor of a sumptuous Bradman tribute volume asked whether he could include it. The piece duly appeared in there, opposite another appreciation by Australias prime minister, John Howard - which, I suspect, impressed the Aussie half of my family more than anything else Ive ever done.Nigel Bennett (1912-2008) At the Almanack we dont often have the pressure of time; with the book out like clockwork every April, theres usually a reasonable period to work on those who passed away the previous year - although the sad demise oof Tony Greig on December 29 a couple of years ago ruffled the teams calm a little.ddddddddddddBut perhaps theres a drawback in not preparing anything beforehand: manys the time Ive fervently wished I had spoken to the player before he took his leave, to discover more about an obviously interesting life. One such was Nigel Bennett, the man who was appointed captain of Surrey by mistake. When he died in 2008 we consulted Alec Bedser, who just nodded and termed it the cock-up.It seems that not long after Surrey decided to appoint a Major Leo Bennett as their first post-war skipper in 1946, Major Nigel Bennett popped in to renew his subscription. Someone in the office totted up two and two and made five, and Major Nigel was duly asked to take over as captain. This peculiar story was neatly embellished when Matthew Engel discovered that the players decided they could put up with Bennett once they clapped eyes on his wife, who was a real cracker.Michael Mence (1944-2014) There arent many advantages to getting older, but I suppose its a help to obituary-writers: youre more likely to have seen the player concerned. One such, who duly appeared in the 2015 Almanack, was Michael Mence, who I met several times when I worked at Lords after leaving school.Mence was an old-fashioned amateur who played hard and partied harder. I remember one morning bumping into my boss, Lieutenant-Colonel John Stephenson, and thinking he looked less dapper than usual following the previous nights committee meeting. I must have raised an eyebrow because he winced: I know. Mence. Never again. Mence had been a precocious schoolboy cricketer but played for Warwickshire and Gloucestershire without a great deal of success. He had more luck in Minor Counties cricket for Berkshire, and was also an MCC regular, especially enjoying their annual matches against Ireland and Scotland. And he was, according to MCCs annual report, probably the last player to appear at Lords sporting a cravat - a titbit I wish Id known before finishing the obituary. Somewhat spookily Mence passed away three days after his father (who also played for Berkshire) died in the same hospice on the Isle of Wight.Don Wilson (1937-2012) Someone else I knew well from my time at Lords was Don Wilson, the Yorkshire and England slow left-armer who later became MCCs head coach. He was interesting (and occasionally infuriating) to work with, a fund of funny stories and far-fetched excuses for why he hadnt quite managed to do what hed been asked.But most of the time he was riotous company, so I was sad when I heard he had succumbed to emphysema in 2012. And, after a week in which very little seemed to have been written about him, I jotted down some memories of Wils, which seemed to go down well. ' ' '