Titans-Bears Joint Practice Takeaways: Cam Ward and Carnell Tate steal the show as defense gets after Caleb Williams
Carnell Tate caught two touchdowns, Cam Ward threw three and the Tennessee Titans’ defense finished strong against Caleb Williams, though Wan’Dale Robinson’s early exit clouded the day.
Robert Saleh has made it clear he values joint practices over preseason games, and the Tennessee Titans backed up their coach’s philosophy with a strong showing Thursday against the Chicago Bears. The Titans completed their third joint practice of the 2026 preseason, and this one belonged to Tennessee, overall.
It wasn’t a blowout by any means. Chicago kept things competitive throughout the session. But the Titans were the better team on both sides of the ball, and that consistency across a full practice is what matters most heading into the regular season.
Easton Freeze and I break down our two different perspectives of the hot day full of cramps and touchdowns between the Titans and Bears.
Titans offense dominates Bears at joint practice as Carnell Tate and Cam Ward steal the show
Freeze: The Titans offense showed out against the Bears defense, and Carnell Tate and Cam Ward were the stars of the show. For a lot of the session, it felt like the Titans’ top receiver and quarterback were playing two-man basketball out there, just tag-teaming it against a Bears secondary that had no answers.
Tate silenced his recent quiet stretch with 12 targets, seven receptions, and two touchdowns on the day. That performance comes after a lot of talk about him having a quiet past 10 days or so, and after this coaching staff has been vocal about how they can scheme a guy open whenever they want to. They just aren’t necessarily doing that right now. Tuesday felt like a demonstration that, hey, by the way, Tate can be a monster whenever Tennessee needs him to be.
The breakdown of his catches tells the story. Tate scored a red zone touchdown, caught four intermediate passes, and added one more intermediate touchdown among his seven receptions. Only two of those catches were shorter ones. He was the go-to target for Ward all day long, and the chemistry between the two continues to look like something this offense can lean on heavily when the regular season arrives.
This is what the Titans envisioned when they shocked the NFL by taking Tate fourth overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. The physical tools and the emotional maturity have always been there. Now, with a full training camp and joint practice reps under his belt, Tate is starting to flash the kind of consistent production that justifies the pick.
Cam Ward’s day vs the Bears by the numbers
Freeze: Ward finished the day 19-for-31 with three touchdowns and one interception, by my count. The interception was pretty bad. He sailed the throw, and it seemed like a bit of miscommunication between him and his target. His common miss for the day was overthrowing guys, which has popped up here and there throughout camp.
But on the whole, Ward was pretty sharp. His pocket movement looked good, and his willingness to work through progressions before finding Tate repeatedly on the intermediate level was encouraging. Three touchdown passes in a joint practice setting against a legitimate NFL defense is nothing to scoff at, even with the one ugly turnover mixed in.
The run game was a little quieter on Tuesday, though the staff wasn’t really focused on that as much anyway. This was a day about the passing attack, and the passing attack delivered.
The bottom line is that the Titans needed a day like this from their two most important offensive players. Tate answered the questions about his quiet stretch, and Ward showed he can run this offense at a high level when his top weapon is cooking. There’s still work to do on the overthrows and the occasional miscommunication, but the Ward-to-Tate connection looks like the real deal heading into the final stretch of the preseason.
Wan’Dale Robinson being evaluated for a concussion
Stanley: The day wasn’t without a dark spot, though. Wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson took a dirty, cheap hit from former Titan safety Xavier Woods and left practice to be evaluated for a concussion. Chim Dike came in for Robinson and kept the offense rolling, and scored a TD on that two minute drive.
Ward took accountability saying he should have put Robinson in a better situation, but that his new receiver is “good” overall. We’ll have to see what the training staff thinks.
Saleh said even less when asked about the hit.
Titans defense swarms Caleb Williams after the break
Stanley: Bears quarterback Caleb Williams started the practice with some solid work, but the Titans defense flipped a switch after the mid-practice break. Once the teams came back out from cooling off inside, Tennessee’s pass rush was all over Williams.
Safety Tony Adams grabbed an interception off Williams. Alontae Taylor nearly had one of his own. The pressure was relentless, and Williams couldn’t find the same pockets he operated from earlier in the session.
That second-half surge from the defense gave Tennessee the edge on both sides of the ball for the entire day, in my opinion.
Titans go 2-1 in joint practices this preseason
Stanley: With today’s result, I’m putting the Titans at 2-1 in joint practices this preseason, whatever you think my book means. Tennessee won both sessions at home in Nashville and dropped the joint practice out in San Francisco.
The heat played a factor Wednesday. Multiple Bears players were cramping throughout the session, which is a real advantage for a team practicing in the Nashville humidity all summer long. Home-field advantage extends beyond game day, and the Titans clearly benefited from being acclimated to the conditions.
Three joint practices in the books, two wins, and the Titans offense and defense both showing progress against live competition. That’s exactly what Saleh wants to see before the real games start.
Earlier this week we discussed the recent data Ryan Paganetti discovered about how joint practice results project toward regular season success or failure. With the 2-1 record, I’d say the Titans are on the 68% side of that conversation – which is the good side to be on.
