The Tennessee Titans held their final training Camp practice in Nashville for a while on Wednesday morning, getting some final reps in before they're wheels-up for Tampa Bay later this afternoon. This was a good practice! Here are the two big picture notes you need to know:
Cam Ward's Big Bounceback
If you missed all the hubbub from a very rough Sunday practice for Cam Ward and company, let me catch you up: it was really ugly. Cam looked like he was playing young for the first time. So how he responded today was a big focus. And he acquitted himself well!
After a slow start in 1-on-1's and redzone 7-on-7's, he heated up in the team redzone period. Then came a two-minute drill, which was the best I've seen of Cam Ward yet. Beginning around their own 25 yard line, Ward marched the starting offense down the field on what felt like a double-digit play drive. It they didn't run ten plays, it was close. Ward didn't hold the ball too long. He extended and created when the situation called for it. He stepped up and navigated the pocket well. He targeted the areas of the field needed to preserve timeouts without getting stuck behind the sticks. He converted a 3rd & 10 just past midfield. And he capped off the drive with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett, with about 6 seconds of game clock to spare.
It wasn't perfect. But it worked, and Cam looked good. He looked confident and in control. Unlike in his worst moment on Sunday, he wasn't pressing. He was patient and accurate. This was a glimpse of what good Cam Ward will look like this year, and in my opinion, a hint at why it's been such tough sledding for far in camp.
Seemingly every practice review I've done the past two weeks has been about the offense's struggles, with the caveat of the advantageous defensive drills they've been running. All of these periods of 3rd and long, backed up in your own endzone, in the low redzone, "bring it or bluff it" zero blitz war games: it's football practice on hard mode. Cam has looked shaky in them, which you can't dismiss out of hand, but they are quite literally designed to make his life hell. The NFL is very very hard, so he's going to have to get used to this hard situational football if he's going to be great. But there are 1st and 2nd downs in real football games too!
All of that is to say: Cam looked rough in a lot of hard drills these first two weeks. Then today, in a more neutral drill, he had his best series of plays that I've seen from him yet. He is improving each day and has a lot of work to do, believe that. But we also need to realize that when he gets to work in neutral situations, things look a lot better. And I think we'll get to see a lot more of those situations in Tampa and Atlanta the next two weeks. Those are the situations I want to see him perform in right now. Show me you can win when the field is level. Today, he did.
Scary Second Team Secondary
I don't have a ton to say on this front, besides to just point out how badly this team need L'Jarius Sneed back and for the rest of the starters to stay healthy. The safety room this team has put together is very good, but the rest of the secondary is perilously thin.
It feels like every day I'm leaving practice shaking my head at just how rough this second team secondary looks on a regular basis. Beyond Brownlee, McCreary, and flashes from Darrell Baker Jr, there hasn't been the developmental progress I (and I'm sure the team) wanted to see so far. Second year CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally has shown some promise, but they're playing him inside behind McCreary. On the outside, I was really hoping to see more from the Harris rookies: Jermari and Marcus. So far, they've looked pretty green. Davion Ross, Clarence Lewis, Jalen Kimber, and veteran Amani Oruwariye haven't offered much either.
I'm not giving up on these guys yet, not by any means. But
until somebody steps up and makes the Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle brigades look less impressive, I'm quite worried about the depth of this secondary. L'Jarius, they really need you.
