NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Few things will have more impact on the Tennessee Titans' ability to able to turn things around than second-year quarterback Cam Ward's continued development under new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Ward didn't do much to generate excitement in two preseason games, but he's shown flashes during joint practices with the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears. Titans coach Robert Saleh, who stepped into the role this offseason after Brian Callahan was fired after a 1-5 start last year, is convinced Ward is ready to lead Tennessee to big things.
Saleh is so convinced, he's betting his job on it.
"This kid's not going to fail," Saleh said Sunday. "Obviously, I put my job on that one, but he's not going to fail. He's special."
With Ward guiding the way, the Titans reached the end zone on only one of their six preseason drives, but Saleh said he puts more stock in joint practices than in preseason games -- at least that's how he feels for guys like Ward, who already have a secure roster spot and get to execute more scheme-based reps.
Ward explained why joint practice has been more effective for the offense than preseason games.
"During practice we're doing more game stuff that we do in a real football game," Ward said after joint practice with the Bears. "It's a lot of stuff that we don't want to put on tape by showing in the preseason game. So practice is more of getting better at the stuff we know we're going to do come Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3.
"It's a difference when you know the certain types of plays that we're putting in each week."
In a season where the Titans finished 3-14 for the second straight year, Ward finished last with 3,169 passing yards (17th), 15 touchdowns (25th) and seven interceptions (tied for 10th most). He completed 59.8% (33rd) of his passes but showed signs over the final five games by posting eight touchdown passes and only being intercepted once. Daboll is looking to extrapolate the latter success over the course of a full season.
"I have a lot of confidence in this young man," Daboll said. "I have confidence in how he played [in college] at Miami and Washington State, and he had a whole year under his belt in the National Football League and getting accustomed to the speed of the game and the timing. That's not an easy thing for quarterbacks."
What the Titans staff wants Ward to do
Daboll and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney are not looking to tweak Ward's throwing motion, but they do want to streamline his decision making, encouraging him to take what the defense gives him while still hunting for opportunities to generate chunk plays. Ward is, in essence, being asked to manage the game, which isn't a bad thing.
"With Cam, his job is to lead the offense and make good decisions with the football," Daboll said. " To get us out of bad plays if we don't have the right look, to make the right decisions on a play-by-play basis."
There will be opportunities to take shots down the field, but Daboll's scheme intends to use the short passing game to set it up. There's always been an emphasis on the slot receiver under Daboll. That's why the team signed Wan'Dale Robinson to a four-year, $70 million deal in March. It's also why a quicker, slimmed-down version of Xavier Restrepo made the initial 53-man roster.
Daboll is relying on Ward reading the defense to determine where to go with the football. The emphasis is on Ward having his "eyes in the right spot" and "being able to move defenders when we need to move them."
There will be times where Ward is expected to hold the safety on one side of the field with his eyes to open up a window to deliver the ball down the field on a post or seam route. That's when Ward has the green light to go hunting for a big play.
Situational awareness is another trait Daboll and the staff are focusing on improving for Ward. Red zone, two-minute and third-down periods emphasize taking care of the ball and not making reckless decisions.
The Titans needed an average of 7.2 yards to pick up a first down on third down last season -- tied for the eighth-highest distance in the NFL. That was a big factor in finishing second to last with a 31.9% conversion rate and averaging a league-worst 3.7 third-down conversions per game.
"Our goal for training camp is being efficient on first and second down," Ward said. "Stay out of third-and-long, because in third-and-5 or less, you pretty much know what they can play. They can still do something different. But when you get into third-and-6, third-and-7 to 10 plus, that's when you got to really key in on your protections.
"It's going to be deeper dropbacks. They know it's a dropback pass, so you're really playing at the defense's advantage."
Why there's hope
Daboll is taking the same approach to Ward as he did to a young Josh Allen back in 2018 with the Buffalo Bills. The first step this offseason was getting to know each other as men. From there it turned to seeing the game through the eyes of Ward and getting him to see things from the playcaller's perspective as well.
Understanding the why makes it easier to execute what the play is designed to accomplish.
"I think Cam has really grasped what we want to do, and we just got to continue to build and work on the execution part of it," Daboll said.
Now the Titans' attention will turn to game planning for the New York Jets for next week's season opener, with Ward's final practice of camp being highlighted by three touchdown passes, including two to No. 4 overall pick Carnell Tate.
Ward has started to feel more comfortable executing the offense and is able to adjust on the fly, as well.
"Everything slowed down," Ward said. "We're finally at the point where we're not going to be installing too much stuff. One thing about coach [Daboll] is he can go to walkthrough, he can make up a play in his head, and we'll run it right there and we will execute it right there. So it's going to be nice to really show what we really are about when the time comes."
The joint practice with Chicago was a reminder of what an offense looks like when a playcaller/quarterback relationship goes right. In his first year, coach Ben Johnson helped catapult quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears to an 11-6 record and an NFC North title last season after Williams went 5-12 as a rookie.
Caleb Williams credited Brian Daboll for years of success as a coordinator and said his advice to Cam Ward is in essence to trust the process. pic.twitter.com/qpBR8L1gMM
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) August 27, 2026
Williams, a fellow No. 1 overall pick, knows what it's like to be in Ward's shoes.
"[Daboll] has been an awesome offensive coordinator in this league for a while now," Williams said. "He has good track record with quarterbacks. Just believe and trust in him; what he's coaching and teaching you. Then it's just go execute. We have some similarities in our game in being able to make the big plays, but keep consistently making the small plays."
Ward placed trust in Daboll from Day 1 because he was intentional about discovering what Ward liked, and he immediately implemented it into the game plan.
"That showed me he's willing to at least listen to me," Ward said." He knows who he has at quarterback. I trust him and he trusts me."
Reason for concern
All of the synergy sounds good on the surface, but the facts are the facts, with Ward completing 13 of 24 passes for 126 yards in two preseason games.
He struggled to connect on deep passes, missing all seven of his attempts over 10 yards. Not all of it has been on Ward though.
Tate failed to haul in a well-placed over the shoulder throw along the sideline in the Seattle game. Tight end Gunnar Helm failed to get his feet in bounds after Ward extended the play and found him in an open area as he scrambled against the Seahawks.
Daboll pointed out how intermediate chunk passing plays, that can be layered throws or man-to-man throws "encompass everybody" to execute properly.
"It's the receiver, it's incumbent upon the receiver to take proper angles, it's incumbent upon the protection," Daboll said. "And then ultimately Cam hitting the plays, but that's just not on Cam."
One thing that is on Ward is finding the open receiver. There have been plenty of times where Ward has done so in practice. But it will need to transfer to game day.
While Ward says the game is slowing down for him, there are occasions where he has sped things up. For example, he fled a clean pocket in the preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers despite having Helm coming open on an out-breaking route that was cleared out when Tate took the safety with him as he ran up the seam.
Ward moved off his spot and picked up 2 yards instead of standing tall and delivering a pass to Helm for an easy completion that would have netted at least 10 yards.
The layups have to be routine plays for Ward and the offense. It hasn't shown in brief appearances preseason games but practices have offered more promise. But it doesn't mean anything if it doesn't come to the surface against the Jets when the season opener comes in a couple of weeks.
"It comes back to time on task," Saleh said. "Trusting yourself, trusting your teammates, play within the rhythm, rhythm of the play and get your feet in the ground and throw an accurate football. It sounds simple, but at the same time, we've got to be able to go do it and take it from practice to the game."
