Full Cam Ward Titans Scrimmage Recap: Carnell Tate & Gunnar Helm highlights, and where Ward showed most growth in five drives
I decided to chart every one of Cam Ward’s plays to give Tennessee Titans fans who couldn’t make it to Nissan Stadium the best experience possible for how the first team offense fared.
The Tennessee Titans held their first Blue and White team scrimmage of training camp at Nissan Stadium, and quarterback Cam Ward’s five drives provided highlight plays, one touchdown, and signs of growth.
I decided to chart every one of Ward’s plays to give Titans fans who couldn’t make it to Nissan Stadium the best experience possible for how the first team offense fared.
Drive 1: Ward leads efficient drive as Titans rookie Carnell Tate opens the show with 40-yard performance
The opening drive started at the 30-yard line and ended with a Joey Slye 22-yard field goal. We saw a strong mix of run and pass, with Ward distributing the ball to several playmakers. Rookie wide receiver Carnell Tate hauled in two catches for 40 yards on the drive, including a jaw-dropping one-handed grab along the sideline.
Ward methodically moves the chains
Running back Tony Pollard took the handoff for a gain of five yards, and on the next snap Ward found Wan’Dale Robinson for an 8-to-9-yard completion to move the chains. Robinson’s catch-and-run showcased the chain-mover element he brings to the offense.
A pair of Pollard runs on the next set of downs each gained a few, setting up a third-and-4 from the 49-yard line. Ward looked left and fired a quick throw to Tate on a slant. The rookie broke a tackle and picked up 17 yards, moving Tennessee inside the 34-yard line.
After a short Tyjae Spears run, Ward went to Tate again on a play-action pass on second down. What happened next was the kind of play that gets a fan base buzzing in August.
Tate, cutting toward the sideline, reached up and snagged a one-handed catch that covered roughly 23 yards down to the 9-yard line. The throw from Ward was beautiful, but the catch from Tate was something else entirely. The guy looked like a freaking star.
Defense gets its moment at the goal line
The drive stalled inside the 10-yard line, and the defense deserves credit. Defensive end Femi Oladejo blew through the left side of the defense on a second-and-goal run play, dropping Spears for a loss of three and pushing the Titans back to a third-and-goal from the 10.
Femi hasn’t been a prominent name through the early portion of training camp, but that kind of disruptive play in a scrimmage setting is a reminder that he’s entering a significant year for his development. Keldric Faulk rotated in at defensive end as well, and he and a veteran defensive tackle brought pressure on Ward’s third-down scramble.
Ward rolled to his left under pressure, picked up six yards on a scramble, but was effectively corralled by Marcus Harris near the sideline at the 4-yard line. The ref spotted him out of bounds, and out came the field goal unit.
Drive 2: Ward leads Titans 1st-team offense on impressive touchdown drive in preseason scrimmage
The Titans first-team offense put together a complete scoring drive on the second possession, capping a 70-yard march with a touchdown pass to tight end Gunnar Helm in the back of the end zone.
What stood out from Ward and the Titans offense
The drive covered 70 yards in 10 plays. Ward finished with one incompletion and showed the full range of his game. The quick-rhythm completions to Helm early set the tone. When pressure came from Jermaine Johnson off the edge, Ward escaped and found the underneath option rather than forcing something deep. That patience and pocket awareness is exactly what the Titans need from their second-year quarterback.
Tate continues to flash. Three catches, 50 yards, all first downs through the first two drive from a rookie wide receiver is the kind of production that validates the big draft investment.
Pollard was the safety valve all drive, catching multiple checkdowns and picking up yards after the catch.
Worth monitoring along the offensive line: Jackson Slater rotated in at right guard during the drive after Cordell Volson opened the first possession, and Fernando Carmona took reps later on the second drive. The Titans are clearly still sorting out that spot behind the starters.
Drive 3: Titans QB shows patience, check-down ability in 2-minute drill
Ward’s third drive provided a glimpse of the franchise quarterback’s growth in his second NFL season.
Ward took over at the 30-yard line with Spears at running back and Volson at right guard, then led the Titans offense across midfield before stalling in a late-half scenario.
The most encouraging takeaway from the series was Ward’s patience and willingness to check the ball down. He didn’t force anything downfield, instead taking what the defense gave him on the quick throws to Robinson and the dump-off to Spears.
Ward’s scramble ability showed up twice on the drive. The dump-off to Spears on the second play and the sidearm throw under pressure on the final snap both demonstrated his ability to extend plays and find outlets when the pocket breaks down. Those traits will matter when the games count.
Drive 4 ends in 48-yard field goal after Titans offense sputters
The Titans started on their own 30-yard line, and Ward wasted no time finding wide receiver Calvin Ridley for his first catch of the night. The quick throw to the right moved the chains for a 12-yard gain and a first down. Pollard took a handoff right but was met by safety Amani Hooker for a short gain of four.
The drive hit a snag on the next play when defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons blew up a play-action pass. Ward tried to get the ball out, but Simmons wouldn’t let it happen, earning a sack credit on the stadium PA announcement but the officials ruled an incompletion. Either way, it set up third-and-6 from the 46-yard line.
Ward answered with the best play of the drive. Rolling to his right with Simmons chasing, Ward fired a dart to the sideline where Robinson made a sliding catch for a 20-yard gain, moving the offense from their own 46 to the opponent’s 34-yard line. The offense hurried to the line in what looked like a “that’ll be reviewed” type of situation.
A quick throw on the next play sailed out of bounds, and a Pollard run was stuffed by linebacker Cedric Gray for a gain of about four yards. Facing third-and-5 from the 30-yard line, Ward took the snap in shotgun with Tyjae Spears to his right. Linebackers Barton and Gray both showed blitz. Ward looked downfield and dumped it off to Spears, but the pass fell incomplete. Gray had Spears dead to rights regardless.
The field goal unit trotted out for a 48-yard attempt from the right hash, and Slye drilled it.
Drive 5: Pollard and the offensive line set the tone early
Titans came out running. Pollard took a handoff up the middle for a gain of 6, finding a gap created by Skoronski, tight end Helm, and center Schlottman. Skoronski, fresh off his new contract, bounced the block well to give Pollard room.
On second-and-4, Pollard found another sliver and converted a first down with a 5-yard gain.
Ward then drew the defensive line offside on first-and-10, getting Jordan Elliott to jump. From there, Ward handed off to Pollard who bounced the run outside, broke a tackle, and picked up 8 yards for another first down. The left side of the offensive line, including Dan Moore, along with tight ends Helm and Bellinger, did the heavy lifting. Bellinger’s block on edge rusher Jermaine Johnson was the key, keeping Johnson just out of reach.
Singleton flashes explosiveness with first-team reps
Singleton burst through a hole and ripped off what initially looked like a 45-yard touchdown before the officials brought the ball back to the 25-yard line. The final ruling was a 15-yard gain, as safety Kevin Winston Jr. filled the gap and would have made the tackle in a live-game situation. Still, the run was explosive and showed exactly what the Titans’ rookie can do when he finds a crease with the first-team offense.
Ward then connected with Robinson on a quick throw for a 9-yard gain underneath the defense, doing exactly what Robinson does best. Pollard followed with a 3-yard carry to move the chains again, and suddenly the Titans sat at the 18-yard line with first-and-10.
Grounding penalty and missed field goal erase the work
Ward scrambled under pressure, and threw the ball away out of bounds. The officials flagged it for intentional grounding, backing the Titans up 12 yards to the 30. On second-and-22, Ward looked downfield and threw toward Tate, but cornerback Alontae Taylor made a strong play around the 12-yard line for the pass breakup. Taylor followed Tate across the entire field on the play. If Taylor hadn’t gotten a hand on it, safety Amari Hooker likely would have picked it off.
On third-and-22, Ward found Robinson again inside the 15 for roughly a 17-yard gain, setting up a manageable fourth-and-3 or fourth-and-4 situation. Like football coaches do in scrimmages, they backed up the spot to let Slye attempt a 48-yard field goal from the left hash. Slye had already connected from that distance off the right hash earlier in the evening, but this one sailed (very) wide left.
Overall, I thought Cam had a good to very good night. My biggest takeaway was his discipline to keep the ball safe with check downs (minus the one pass breakup by Taylor).
