Matt Hasselbeck knows what a reset can do for a quarterback.
Back in 1998, he was stuck as a Green Bay fourth-stringer with Brett Favre ahead of him and not much standing in his way. Then he bought into the footwork he was being coached to use, committing to a Joe Montana-style approach with Mike McCarthy working on his feet.
The change helped him separate, put together two strong preseasons and turn himself into an NFL asset. Mike Holmgren and the Seahawks traded for him, and he went on to become an 11-year starter with an NFC Championship and three Pro Bowls when those still meant something.
“When I humbled myself and bought into the footwork that I was being coached to use,” he said, “my game took off.”
That kind of detail is exactly why Hasselbeck was one of six NFL quarterback experts asked to study Cam Ward’s footwork, which has become a major part of the discussion around his accuracy issues.
Robert Saleh has said Ward’s footwork starts out well early in games, then slips later as he drifts into bad habits. Saleh suggested some of that may be tied to PTSD after Ward was sacked 55 times as a rookie. Ward, for his part, has said his lower-body mechanics are better this year than they were last year, and he doesn’t see a contradiction between his success throwing off-platform and what he needs to do from the pocket or when he has time to reset.
To get a clearer read, I asked Hasselbeck and five other NFL quarterback coaches or former NFL quarterbacks to break down a short six-play reel of Ward. Hasselbeck agreed to speak on the record. The other five did not, citing their own reasons for staying anonymous and wanting to be candid without consequences.
What they saw was inconsistency in Ward’s mechanics, and that inconsistency is at the center of the problem.
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Much of the pressure, though, is landing on Cam Ward after a slow start to the season. Tennessee does not need him to carry the whole load, but it does need cleaner play and more consistent production as the team tries to steady itself early in the year. With the head coach still chasing a first victory and the backfield situation unsettled, this trip could say a lot about where the Titans are headed next. [Read more 🡒]