Three lessons Cam Ward has learned in his first two starts

Mike Patton

•
Three lessons Cam Ward has learned in his first two starts image

The crowd was roaring loudly and fans were standing on their feet as the 2025 number one overall pick, Cam Ward, jogged onto the field. It was his first home game and second game of the regular season in his career. And after last week’s performance in a 20-12 loss, plenty wondered how he would perform. Well, his performance was one that had both positive aspects and areas for improvement, as the Titans lost at home 33-19 to the Los Angeles Rams, falling to 0-2 on the year. Ward was 19 for 33 for 172 yards and one amazing touchdown to Elic Ayomanor, which was the first passing touchdown for Cam and the first receiving touchdown for Ayomanor.  But within the loss, there have been lessons.

“I would say situations are the biggest thing. I think I have gotten better at that on some key downs.”

Watching the game, he has learned when to go and when not to. A perfect example is on a couple of third downs, when he decided to run the football. One of them, he slid short of the first down to avoid taking a hit. And on a fourth down play in the game, he scrambled and got the first down to extend the drive. Not every situation calls for Ward to be Superman and sacrifice his body for the first down. The second lesson is one that he had a lesson on against the Rams on Sunday.

“Take care of the ball. Even though we had two turnovers last week and one turnover this week.”

Here is where he has been more good than bad. Ward has not thrown an interception this season and he has been wise with his decisions on where to go with the football. However, against the Rams on Sunday, he was sacked and appeared a bit loose with the football. The result was Ward fumbling the football and the Rams recovering it, leading to another score for Los Angeles. Cam does like to carry the football loosely at times, and that is something he knows he has to work through in terms of ball security, especially when there are people around him in tight quarters.

The last thing Ward spoke on was the importance of staying on schedule.

“Offensively, we gotta stay on schedule. We have yet to do that. And the more we continue to stay on schedule, it will just continue to be good drives for us. Everytime we don’t stay on schedule, it’s always a bad drive.”

Ward could not be more correct here. When the Titans get off schedule, it not only results in bad drives, but also more predictable play-calling can occur due to down and distance.  For a young quarterback and an offense that cannot afford to be off track, this is not what you want to see, and it also puts their offensive line in less advantageous situations. The better the Titans are on schedule, the easier it will be to mix up play calls and keep defenses off balance.

Overall, Cam Ward is encouraging to watch, as evidenced by the smart way he plays, the confidence he plays with and the astuteness with which he studies the game. However, with him learning lessons, those lessons must permeate throughout the rest of the team.

Mike Patton

Mike Patton is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a Nashville native who has done freelance journalist work for the National Association of Black Journalists and other outlets. Mike is the host and producer of the Touring The AFC South Podcast.