Cam Ward Pops: Titans minicamp notebook led by QB1 who let his unique trait out to play
Cam Ward kicked off Tennessee Titans Mandatory Minicamp with a bounce back, an unlikely receiver continues to make plays, and some notable faces returned to practice while others are still MIA.
Tennessee Titans mandatory minicamp is underway and second year quarterback Cam Ward was once again the main talking point of media along the practice sidelines.
Unlike last week’s OTA practices, the chatter was about the plays being made by Ward instead of curiosity of what wasn’t quite clicking yet when learning the new offensive system.
Cam Ward’s “playmaker” ability popped off at Titans minicamp Tuesday
Ward looked significantly more loose Tuesday as his gamer-side of him when compared to previous OTA practices. An observational theory first floated by Easton Freeze was how it seemed Ward was emphasizing playing on time, getting the ball out quick, while the other Titans QBs held onto the ball to find a throw when they can’t get sacked.
Tuesday Ward did both, get the ball out quick and was more free wheeling with his playmaker side, but not the aforementioned “practice sack turned completion.”
The biggest example of this was a red zone period touchdown Ward threw to second year tight end Gunnar Helm. From the eight yard line, Ward rolled out, pump faked defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, then sidearm slung the ball under JFM to Helm, who then walked in for a score.
Later in the same period Ward hit Wan’Dale Robinson with a slick throw between defenders on the two yard line. Robinson’s quick slide made it an easy score.
Safety Amani Hooker did snag an interception off Ward on the final play of Tuesday’s practice, in what was a spirited, competitive minicamp session.
Cam looked solid today. Good. Hopefully media and Titans fans can move on from last week and stop the nonsense. Until Wednesday’s practice, at least.
Xavier Restrepo stays hot?
The former Miami receiver has continued to show up during the Titans offseason practices. Xavier Restrepo kept that going Tuesday with maybe the most impressive play I’ve seen him make with the Titans.
Will Levis threw a ball while escaping the pocket. Restrepo caught it off his shoe strings near the 15 yard line. Restrepo made a move for the corner, and out raced the defenders to the pylon. It was a close call for the ref at practice to award the TD to the second year undrafted WR. Restrepo’s teammates joined him in the back of the end zone celebrating in what represented a wedding dance floor battle.
New faces and notable absences
Head coach Robert Saleh told us before practice that there are just a small handful of players working through some injuries and “body reactivation” right now that impacts their practice status. Amongst those not seen on Monday: S Erick Hallett, DE Malik Herring, RT JC Latham, and EDGE Femi Oladejo.
Oladejo hasn’t been involved in this session of practice at all, though he’s been spotted around the facility. Latham was a surprise absentee on Monday, as both starting tackles were anticipated to inject themselves into practice for these two mandatory days. Only LT Dan Moore was out there this time. Both of these young players are important pieces of the roster build, and we’ll enter into training camp late July with eyes out for their return.
Being that this was the first mandatory practice of the month, though, we did see many veterans enter the fray. DT duo Jeffery Simmons and John Franklin-Myers made their first appearances, looking the part of a two-man wrecking crew.
The pair of starting outside cornerbacks were on the field together for the first time as well. Alontae Taylor and Cor’Dale Flott joined the festivities and got back into the flow of things. Their presence wasn’t necessarily a deeply-felt factor in the practice, but I wasn’t 100% dialed in on them all day either. We’ll get a feel for how this big investment in the secondary looks in coming practices.