Cam Ward completed 20 of 26 passes with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception during Thursday’s joint practice against the Seattle Seahawks, putting together the kind of efficient, timing-based performance the Tennessee Titans need to see more of from their quarterback. Ward’s day featured a mix of quick-game execution, scramble-drill completions, and a game-winning 2-minute drill touchdown as time expired. Here is every passing play from Ward’s day, documented drive by drive with analysis throughout.

7-on-7 period

The offense is designed to win during 7-on-7 work, and Ward started tight.

• Complete, short right to tight end Gunnar Helm
• Complete, intermediate middle to wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, who took a hard hit on the play
• Offensive pass interference called on what was a completion deep right to wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, the kind of OPI I would recommend committing every single time. It was going to be a big completion if they allowed it, and in games, every other time that happens, they allow it. Good play even though the refs called it on this one.
• Incomplete, intermediate middle to tight end Daniel Bellinger, broken up by the defender

11-on-11 red zone period

Two drives for Ward and the starters in the red zone to begin 11’s.

Drive 1:

• Complete, short left to Wan’Dale Robinson
• Complete, short middle to Elic Ayomanor for a touchdown. Ward rolled right and threw back across his body in what has become the trademark Cam Ward fashion. Ayomanor made an impressive catch high, using violent and quick hands to snatch it out of the air.
• Complete, short middle to running back Tony Pollard (they didn’t call the previous play a touchdown to keep things running).

Drive 2:

• Complete, behind the line of scrimmage right to Wan’Dale Robinson
• Complete, short left to wide receiver Calvin Ridley
• Incomplete, short right to wide receiver Carnell Tate. Tate was the closest receiver, but it was way off. Clearly a miscommunication with nobody in the area.

Full-field 11-on-11, Drive 1

Four pass attempts on the first full-field drive.

• Complete, deep middle to Wan’Dale Robinson. Ward was falling backwards and found a nice soft spot in the zone. Robinson was there to make the catch on one of Ward’s deepest completions of the day.
• Complete, short middle to Gunnar Helm. Crazy zip on that ball into a tight window.
• Interception. Seahawks safety Ty Okada jumped Carnell Tate on what was a late decision by Ward. It looked like it would have been a pick-6 in a real game.
• Complete, short right to Daniel Bellinger. Good timing on a third-down conversion.

Full-field 11-on-11, Drive 2

• Complete, short right to Tony Pollard
• Complete, short left to running back Tyjae Spears
• Incomplete. Ward dirted the ball behind the line of scrimmage on what seemed to be a blown-up play.
• Incomplete, short right to wide receiver Xavier Restrepo

After a hot start, things were beginning to stall, and they really stalled in the third full-field period.

Full-field 11-on-11, Drive 3

The Seahawks defensive line took over in this stretch.

• Incomplete, drop, short right to Carnell Tate
• Incomplete, drop, short left to Tajae Spears
• Complete, short right to Tyjae Spears. Ward booted because the offensive line was blown up by Seattle’s defensive line.
• Incomplete, thrown away because the pocket was crushed again
• Complete, short right to Tony Pollard. Another escape play by Ward because the pocket was crushed for a third consecutive snap.

Full-field 11-on-11, Drive 4

The starters answered the bell when they came back one more time. Ward completed 6 consecutive passes on this final full-field drive.

• Complete, short middle to Wan’Dale Robinson
• Complete, short right to Gunnar Helm
• Complete, intermediate middle to Calvin Ridley
• Complete, short middle to Wan’Dale Robinson
• Complete, short left to Tyjae Spears
• Complete, short left to Daniel Bellinger

Only one pass that wasn’t short on that drive, the intermediate completion to Ridley. You could tell the coaching staffs were going back and forth in a chess match. The drive before, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald got his defensive line into a disruptive, havoc-creating pattern that kept Tennessee’s offense from doing much of anything. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s answer was to go to hurry-up, throwing a wrinkle into the approach with short-passing, timing-based concepts.

I think that sequence really reflected the idea that Daboll’s offense is going to be less about taking what the defense gives you and more about taking what he schemes up. Trust that the first read on these tight timing-based throws is going to be there. The players just need to execute the timing and the footwork perfectly. Ward was doing that well on this drive, and I think that’s been an area of needed improvement from year one. I see progress in that area on drives like this. It was a nice jab after getting an uppercut from Seattle’s defensive line in the middle of that period.

2-minute drill

One drive for the offense to finish the day, their seventh team drive excluding 7-on-7s.

• Complete, short right to Gunnar Helm
• Defensive pass interference flag, intended for Carnell Tate, intermediate right. It would have been a nice completion and Tate’s only catch of the day. He ultimately finished with none.
• Complete, short middle to Gunnar Helm
• Defensive pass interference flag in the end zone, intended for Elic Ayomanor deep. Ayomanor was going to make the catch and almost still did despite the blatant interference.
• Complete to Daniel Bellinger in the back left of the end zone for a touchdown as time expired

A strong way to cap off the day.

Final stat line and overall thoughts

Ward finished roughly 20-for-26 with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception across all team periods. Here are the individual target breakdowns in team periods, excluding 7-on-7s:

• Wan’Dale Robinson: 5 catches on 5 targets
• Gunnar Helm: 4 catches on 4 targets
• Daniel Bellinger: 3 catches on 3 targets
• Tyjae Spears: 3 catches on 4 targets
• Tony Pollard: 3 catches on 3 targets
• Calvin Ridley: 2 catches on 2 targets
• Elic Ayomanor: 1 catch on 1 target
• Carnell Tate: 0 catches on 3 targets
• Xavier Restrepo: 0 catches on 1 target

Robinson leading the way won’t shock anybody who’s been paying attention. Tate was the outlier of the day with a down practice.

My buddy Jared Stillman asked me to come up with a vibes-based passer rating for Ward off the top of my head after practice. The number my gut told me immediately was 94.3.

I then plugged my charting notes into AI and asked it to use the actual passer rating formula to estimate a number, and the robot calculation came back at 100.5. Those aren’t elite passer ratings, but they are quite good. For reference, Ward’s passer rating on his three drives in preseason game one was in the 30s. That’s an unacceptable level of football. Anywhere in the 90s or 100s is a perfectly acceptable outing, and the Titans need a lot more of those from Ward.

It was an efficient day. He did what he was supposed to do well. It was a lot of quick-game, timing-based stuff and underneath work that is harder to appreciate and less “wow.” Less tractor quarterback, more trailer quarterback. But that’s fine when it’s what the day calls for. Against a Super Bowl-winning defense in Seattle, I think this was the kind of day you were hoping to see from Cam Ward.