Titans rookie QB Cam Ward talks nonstop, but never misses anything his coach says
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Cam Ward talks so much that Tennessee coach Brian Callahan asked the rookie if he needed to wait until the Titans quarterback stopped before calling a play during practice.
The answer?
Nope. Ward listens even while talking. The rookie then proves how closely he pays attention by never missing a beat running the next play.
'He enters right into the huddle, and he calls the play and doesn't screw up the play call, and I thought that was actually kind of remarkable,' Callahan said. 'I know I couldn't do that.'
Ward said Thursday that it's pretty simple for him. The No. 1 overall pick in April's draft out of Miami is always locked in. The talking comes naturally.
'What's the point of playing something that you love if you can't have fun with it?' Ward said. 'So that's where it comes from. But I mean, I love the game. And so any chance I get, you know, to let somebody know that they can't (mess) with me it really doesn't matter.'
Ward wrapped up his first offseason Thursday as the Titans completed their three-day mandatory minicamp in front of family and a batch of food trucks. Rookies work until June 20, then there's a break until July 22 for training camp when the quarterback competition that really isn't resumes.
Callahan has done his best to limit the pressure on the rookie by rotating the start of drills among all four quarterbacks on the roster even as Ward got more work during this minicamp for a simple reason: As a rookie the Titans need to give him as much experience as possible.
Ward has been doing his part, showing up early working with fellow rookies and staying late. They have watched the Titans' 2024 games, practice tape, review the plays being run in practice later that day. All designed to grow together and be on the same page.
It's been noticeable enough that Callahan has talked with the rookie about having grinding months ahead.
'I'm not telling him what to do, I'm just making the point that there's a lot ahead of him that he's not aware of yet when it comes to this, the length and the week-to-week-to-week grind that comes up for these guys,' Callahan said. 'It is a marathon.'
Tyler Lockett is a veteran receiver going into his 11th NFL season and has watched Ward since he played at Washington State. Lockett has been impressed with how Ward understands defenses, gets the ball out and understands timing this early.
'I think everybody's able to see exactly what they saw on the film,' Lockett said.
Ward has had rookie moments. He was picked off twice Thursday, once by linebacker Cody Barton. He rebounded by throwing a nice pass into tight coverage to Bryce Oliver later in a red zone drill for a touchdown.
Quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree said Ward has worked hard on his footwork and timing and improved on mechanics such as breaking the huddle and recognizing defenses. Ward's hard work is noticeable in other ways too in how he takes coaching points or corrections.
'If he makes a mistake, never make the same mistake twice,' Hardegree said. 'And that's important to him.'
Once the rookies start their break, Ward knows he'll be busy studying the playbook and throwing lots of footballs.
The quarterback who worked his way from Incarnate Word to Washington State and Miami before becoming the NFL's top draft pick in April knows he'll likely be thinking about football even while showering during the break.
Even with his first NFL game still months away, Ward knows his biggest goal for his career: Wins.
'The quarterback position will always be judged off wins,' Ward said. 'So you know I'm just trying to win a lot of games in the NFL in my career. Try to ... help my team win a lot of games.'
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
15 minutes ago
- New York Times
Can Scottie Scheffler still win the U.S. Open? He thinks so
Follow The Athletic's live coverage of the 2025 U.S. Open. OAKMONT, Pa. — Scottie Scheffler finished his second round at the U.S. Open on Friday at 4-over-par, eight shots back of the leader at that moment. He's not convinced he's out of it. 'There was some times today where you feel like you could give up, just based on how difficult the golf course is, how my swing was feeling,' Scheffler said. '… Going out early tomorrow, maybe get some easier conditions than the guys late in the afternoon. At the U.S. Open I don't think you're ever out of the tournament. Put together two decent days, I may be in 25th or 30th place or something like that after today, and like I said, by no means is that out of the tournament.' Advertisement While this is a larger deficit than he faced last month, Scheffler no doubt remembers that he was three shots back after 36 holes at the PGA Championship and ended the third round up by three. With no signs of Oakmont easing up and rain in the forecast for Saturday, the No. 1 player in the world is ready to try to force his way up the leaderboard. He shot a 1-over 71 on Friday, a bogey on his final hole — the par-4 9th — pushing him over par on the day. Scheffler admitted to issues off the tee that made the round a struggle, but his performance on No. 9 was an example of choosing patience. Scheffler's ball found the rough off the right side of the fairway, and he thought the lie was enough that he had 7-wood out of the bag. But Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott reconsidered, factoring in the bunker that guards the front of the green, and he instead hit a wedge back into the fairway. 'Being 3-over-par for the tournament and the lead is a few under par, that could be an area where you may try to force something. But I think forcing it around this place is probably not a good recipe to play too much good golf for me,' Scheffler said. 'You've got to be hitting fairways, you've got to be hitting greens, and hopefully I'll be able to do that on the weekend.' Scheffler's day began with a warning, a birdie on No. 10 that signaled to whoever was already on the course that he was coming. But then reality set in — the back nine played more than 2 1/2 shots harder than the front nine in the morning wave, and Scheffler had two bogeys and six pars before making the turn. A bogey-birdie-bogey run from holes Nos. 1-3 put Scheffler at 5-over-par and suddenly in danger of watching the cut line all afternoon. That will not be necessary — Oakmont is only getting harder by the hour, and birdies on Nos. 4 and 7 gave Scheffler the cushion he sought. Advertisement A year after Scheffler made the cut at Pinehurst but was never a factor, it's fair for the tens of thousands of golf fans here to wonder if history will repeat itself this weekend. The oddsmakers still like him — BetMGM has him at the third-best odds, +1000, behind only Sam Burns and Viktor Hovland. Burns is 3-under-par and Hovland is 1-under.
USA Today
15 minutes ago
- USA Today
49ers defensive coordinator shares admiration for his quarterback
49ers defensive coordinator shares admiration for his quarterback Through the first three years of his NFL career, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been really solid, leading the team to a 23-13 record in his 36 starts and completing 67.5% of his passes for 9,518 yards, 64 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. Considering San Francisco took Purdy with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Iowa State, what he's accomplished to this point has been remarkable. That's why the 49ers decided to address the situation early and give their quarterback a massive five-year, $265 million extension earlier this offseason. While Purdy is now set for life financially, this new contract has brought out even more doubters than the Cyclone product has dealt with during his time in the league. However, Purdy does have plenty of supporters, including defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who is returning to San Francisco's sidelines after serving as the head coach of the New York Jets from 2021-24. "I think highly of him. I really do. He is really good," Saleh told reporters earlier this week. "You get jaded sometimes, I think, when you're looking at certain players for a certain amount of time. As a new face coming in and seeing Brock, [he's] pretty damn good. I can see where you get so used to seeing it, it becomes the standard, and you're always trying to elevate it, but not every head coach or not every organization is able to look at their quarterback and compare them to Brock. Brock is a damn good quarterback. I try not to poorly on other quarterbacks around the league, but he's one of the better ones." In three seasons, Purdy has led the 49ers to the postseason twice, which is two more times than any quarterback has done for the Jets since 2010. Bringing a team to multiple NFC championship games and a Super Bowl while still on your rookie deal is an impressive feat, even if Purdy has had talented players around him. It has to be great for 25-year-old to hear this praise from a coach who's been outside the building and has watched him from afar and will now get a chance to test him in practice. More 49ers: Aging 49ers star says he's not thinking about retirement yet
Forbes
15 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Tax Benefit Of Winning The U.S. Open At Oakmont Country Club
Last year's U.S. Open Champion, Bryson Dechambeau, had many reasons to smile. In addition to lifting the trophy, he also took home $4.3 million. The U.S. Open continues to represent one of golf's biggest prizes. While any golfer would give whatever it takes to take home this year's trophy (first place prize again expected to be $4.3 million), there is an extra layer of incentive this year that makes it even more beneficial relative to future years: taxes. Like Dechambeau's win last year in North Carolina, this year's winner can also expect to face relatively low state income taxes levied on their prize in comparison to upcoming years. In this article, I discuss the tax implications of winning at Oakmont and why it differs so much for the next three U.S. Open golf tournaments. Like other professions, when athletes earn money, they are subject to income taxes under Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code. At the federal level, this rate maxes out at 37% for income over $626,350 ($751,600), meaning that most major professional athletes pay 37 cents for every incremental dollar earned. This tax applies to the athlete's money from contracts, endorsements, and winnings, among other sources. Furthermore, by being in the top tax bracket, the athlete's long-term investments will be subject to a higher (albeit preferential) tax rate of 20%. However, an extra layer of taxation that is less considered by many is state income taxes. Often referred to as the jock tax, athletes must pay state and local income taxes in the jurisdictions where they earn the money. According to Kiplinger, the jock tax has had made news in the past, starting with Michael Jordan being subject to it during the 1991 NBA Finals, subsequently leading to Illinois issuing tax bills to the L.A. Lakers players for the games they played in Chicago. The article also estimates that high-earning basketball players like Nikola Jokic and Steph Curry pay over a million per year for the jock tax due to taxable income earned in other states. Importantly, the jock tax primarily relates to income earned while physically in that jurisdiction, meaning that athletes' endorsement income is not subject to other state and local income taxes. This notion leads many professional athletes to live in states that do not levy an income tax. Professional golfers have also taken notice. GolfDigest reports an unusually high concentration of PGA golfers who reside in Florida, Texas, and Nevada to take advantage of the no-state income tax. This means that if the golfer wins a tournament in another state, they will need to pay that state's income tax on those winnings, but the golfer would not be subject to any additional layers of taxation since their home state does not require the golfer to pay income taxes. Oakmont Country Club is nestled in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As discussed by Forbes, it is widely considered to be among golf's greatest challenges, and it has hosted the U.S. Open a record 10 times. It is also scheduled to host the U.S. Open again in 2033 and 2042. While the USGA almost certainly selected Oakmont to host this year's U.S. Open based on it being the golf standard for championship golf, Oakmont also has a significant financial advantage for golfers relative to the upcoming sites. Pennsylvania boasts one of the lowest state income tax rates levied on income in the entire country, with a 2025 rate of 3.07%. This means that absent any other deductions, the winner of the $4.3 million prize will only pay approximately $132,010 in state income taxes on the winnings. In contrast, the three upcoming U.S. Open sites are Shinnecock Hills Golf Club (New York), Pebble Beach Golf Links (California), and Winged Foot Golf Club (New York). New York's top state income tax rate is 10.9%, whereas California's is 13.3%. This means that the $4.3 million champions prize winner will pay $468,700 (New York) and $571,900 (California) in the upcoming years. As reported by each state also has different withholding tax rules that the golfer needs to adhere to, and this rate can differ by state and by country. Importantly, when considering the total prize pool of $21.5 million, the collective group of golfers will pay millions more in taxes when the tournament is played in New York and California, relative to recent U.S. Open tournaments in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The tax liability would be even less if the U.S. Open would be held at a golf course in a no-state income tax rate state like Florida, Texas, Nevada, Tennessee, or Washington, begging the question of whether the USGA and PGA should attempt to locate more of the significant golf tournaments in those states to better the golfers' wallets. Despite these challenges, it is important to point out that winning the U.S. Open has countless benefits associated with it and is clearly worth the additional tax headache, regardless of where the tournament takes place that year. Also, H&R Block highlights the numerous tax deductions that are afforded to professional golfers to help lower those tax burdens. Professional golfers should become well versed in the taxes they might owe as well as the ways they can minimize those tax liabilities.
