The Tennessee Titans first day of joint practice against the Atlanta Falcons left a lot to be desired. If you missed the first Training Camp Notebook from on-site in Flowery Branch, click here for the latest on slow starts and the new message being preached to the team.
Here's the rest of what you need to know about a disappointing first day in Georgia:
Cam Ward's Inaccurate Day
I wouldn't call this Cam Ward's worst day of practice this year, but it may have been his most inaccurate. A lot of his passes were behind, with a few too far ahead, too high, and too low sprinkled in there as well. It was a scattershot day. It was definitely out of the norm for him, and he didn't seem to have a whole lot of open receivers available to him either. I wonder how much of it was a bad day for his accuracy vs how much was a result of pressing through a poor day of separation. Perhaps that's a misread on my part, that's purely an anecdotal guess. Either way, the inaccuracy stood out as an oddity.
He had two interceptions today as well, which is neither here nor there to me. I want my guys throwing interceptions in camp, it means you're trying things. One of them was a bad read right into the chest of a DB, and the other was a very unfortunate pass to Elic Ayomanor with CB A.J. Terrell in very tight coverage, which ricocheted off the two and flew higher in the air than I've ever seen a tipped ball go. It was the world's easiest tip drill interception for S Jessie Bates to snag with nobody else in the area.
Speaking of Elic Ayomanor, the desire to get him the ball in different areas of the field is clearly there. Cam is trying to build a rapport with him, and the coaches are trying to get him the ball. They keep targeting him in a variety of ways. And today was just not the day for that connection. The inaccuracy on Cam's part was just as much responsible for the rough day as Elic's poor play was, but I do find myself wanting to see the young receiver utilize his size a little better. He played timid today, and I know he's capable of playing stronger than that. You're a big man, get out there and play like it! That's what I would be telling him if I were his receivers coach, which I most certainly am not. But I'd bet you Tyke Tolbert (his actual coach) is telling it to him every day.
Odds & Ends
L'Jarius Sneed was spotted at practice once again, as he inches closer and closer to a return to the practice field. He and EDGE Jaylen Harrell worked inside on the Falcon's indoor field. Harrell suffered an injury in the preseason game against the Bucs over the weekend. Starting center Lloyd Cushenberry returned to padded practice for the first time, though, and spoke with media afterwards:
We'll have to see how long it takes him to get back to team activities of any kind. His timeline remains unclear, and I'd say there's a very decent chance Tennessee is relying on Corey Levin for at least a game or two to begin the year.
