Cam Ward isn’t backing down after a rough start to his second NFL season.
The Titans quarterback opened the year with a 23-10 loss to the Jets, and afterward head coach Robert Saleh said Ward “is at the floor of what it takes to be an NFL quarterback.” Ahead of Tennessee’s game against the Eagles this week, Ward was asked directly whether he agreed with that assessment. His answer was a little different.
“I think I am a very good quarterback,” Ward said. “I think I do a lot of things different, that a lot of quarterbacks can’t do.
And there’s also stuff I have to get better at, some things that I lack and that’s a process you take on each and every day. I have great coaches around me to keep pushing me to the level I want to play at, and when the tide turns I am pretty sure it’s going to be a different story.”
That set up another pointed question, this time about whether the Titans should be winning more often if Ward is, in fact, that good.
“I think it comes with the game,” Ward said. “It comes with the defense you’re playing.
It comes with what the DC’s philosophy is and every game’s not gonna be a shootout. It could be a bad passer rating, a bad completion ratio, but it’s all about the win and loss.
We haven’t done that and that’s something we only focus on.”
Ward’s rookie season ended with Tennessee at 3-14, so the results haven’t given him much room to settle the debate. Even so, his response was steady and measured in the face of a sharp challenge. Whether it changes minds is another matter, especially with Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense waiting this Sunday.
Saleh called it a “long, long process” after the Jets game, and based on how the Titans looked in the opener, Ward may need plenty of patience before the conversation shifts.
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For the Titans, that creates a watch point worth tracking as the early-season market takes shape. Tennessee has seen how quickly one injury concern can expose a units depth, and the Chargers now look like a team that may not be able to wait long to address the problem. If Los Angeles decides it has to act, players like Thomas become the sort of name that can move from speculative fit to real possibility in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]