Latest news with #CameronWard
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Garafolo on latest QB news ahead of Week 2 of preseason 'GMFB'
NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo on latest quarterback news for Tennessee Titans quarterback Cameron Ward, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and the Cleveland Brown ahead of Week 2 of preseason.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Titans coach hopes to reap benefits of 10-day preseason road trip later this season
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are back home following a 10-day road trip and a split of their first two preseason games. How much the time together helps remains to be seen. The Titans are a work in progress, rebuilding after three straight losing seasons and leaning heavily on a rookie quarterback and a lot of other young players. 'At the end of the day, there's not a whole lot of negatives to the whole process," second-year coach Brian Callahan said Saturday. "And it's going to help us down the road.' The Titans wrapped up the road swing by beating Atlanta 23-20 on Friday night. Cameron Ward is 7 of 15 for 109 yards passing over five series through the first two exhibitions. Fellow rookie Gunnar Helm had a nice 25-yard touchdown catch on a pass from backup Brandon Allen. Cedric Gray, a 2024 fourth-round draft pick out of North Carolina, got the start competing for an inside linebacker job with James Williams Sr. Gray had a half-sack, led Tennessee with seven tackles and had an interception wiped out by a penalty. How the Titans improve rests largely on Ward's development, and they've been pleased so far with what the No. 1 overall pick out of Miami has done to this point. One throw against Atlanta — on a deep incompletion on second-and-13 to veteran Van Jefferson — sums up how Ward sees things. Callahan said after the game that Jefferson dropped an 'incredible throw.' Ward took the blame for not putting the ball in a better location. The Titans coach credited the rookie with knowing how to have conversations and having a leadership quality of knowing what tone and how to talk to each person. Ward is very open to coaching and criticism of how he needs to improve. The rookie also never pins blame on someone unless he's 'adamantly sure' somebody made a mistake, according to Callahan. 'It's a conversation, 'Hey, what could I have done better here to help?'' Callahan said of Ward's approach. 'And I think that's what's allowed him to improve at the rate he's improved as he's very much willing to take coaching and take criticism and open himself up to be where do I need to be better.' The clock is ticking for the Titans, who have two padded practices before their home exhibition finale against Minnesota on Friday night. The team went 3-14 last season losing the final six games. That earned it the chance to select Ward, and first-year general manager Mike Borgonzi did some maneuvering to wind up with nine draft picks in April. Callahan's task is getting those first- and second-year players ready for the NFL by Sept. 7 at Denver while also preparing the veterans. He said there's a balance, with the only way young players improve is by playing. 'When you have opportunities to let those guys go grow, they got to go grow,' Callahan said. In the NFL, winning is all that matters. The Titans have fired two general managers and a coach since December 2022. 'We're going to do whatever it takes to put ourselves in position to win on top of it,' Callahan said. 'That's that at the end all be all. That's our job.' ___ AP NFL:
Associated Press
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Titans coach hopes to reap benefits of 10-day preseason road trip later this season
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are back home following a 10-day road trip and a split of their first two preseason games. How much the time together helps remains to be seen. The Titans are a work in progress, rebuilding after three straight losing seasons and leaning heavily on a rookie quarterback and a lot of other young players. 'At the end of the day, there's not a whole lot of negatives to the whole process,' second-year coach Brian Callahan said Saturday. 'And it's going to help us down the road.' The Titans wrapped up the road swing by beating Atlanta 23-20 on Friday night. Cameron Ward is 7 of 15 for 109 yards passing over five series through the first two exhibitions. Fellow rookie Gunnar Helm had a nice 25-yard touchdown catch on a pass from backup Brandon Allen. Cedric Gray, a 2024 fourth-round draft pick out of North Carolina, got the start competing for an inside linebacker job with James Williams Sr. Gray had a half-sack, led Tennessee with seven tackles and had an interception wiped out by a penalty. How the Titans improve rests largely on Ward's development, and they've been pleased so far with what the No. 1 overall pick out of Miami has done to this point. One throw against Atlanta — on a deep incompletion on second-and-13 to veteran Van Jefferson — sums up how Ward sees things. Callahan said after the game that Jefferson dropped an 'incredible throw.' Ward took the blame for not putting the ball in a better location. The Titans coach credited the rookie with knowing how to have conversations and having a leadership quality of knowing what tone and how to talk to each person. Ward is very open to coaching and criticism of how he needs to improve. The rookie also never pins blame on someone unless he's 'adamantly sure' somebody made a mistake, according to Callahan. 'It's a conversation, 'Hey, what could I have done better here to help?'' Callahan said of Ward's approach. 'And I think that's what's allowed him to improve at the rate he's improved as he's very much willing to take coaching and take criticism and open himself up to be where do I need to be better.' The clock is ticking for the Titans, who have two padded practices before their home exhibition finale against Minnesota on Friday night. The team went 3-14 last season losing the final six games. That earned it the chance to select Ward, and first-year general manager Mike Borgonzi did some maneuvering to wind up with nine draft picks in April. Callahan's task is getting those first- and second-year players ready for the NFL by Sept. 7 at Denver while also preparing the veterans. He said there's a balance, with the only way young players improve is by playing. 'When you have opportunities to let those guys go grow, they got to go grow,' Callahan said. In the NFL, winning is all that matters. The Titans have fired two general managers and a coach since December 2022. 'We're going to do whatever it takes to put ourselves in position to win on top of it,' Callahan said. 'That's that at the end all be all. That's our job.' ___ AP NFL:
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Titans edge Falcons 23-20
ATLANTA (AP) — Kendell Brooks scored on a 53-yard interception return and rookie quarterback Cameron Ward had mixed results as the Tennessee Titans beat the Atlanta Falcons 23-20 in a preseason game Friday night. Joey Slye's 23-yard field goal with 9:03 remaining gave Tennessee (1-1) the lead. Falcons backup quarterback Emory Jones was stopped on a fourth-down run near the Tennessee 20 with 2:57 remaining. Jones was shaken up on the hit by linebacker Amari Burney and cornerback Jemari Harris. Jones walked off the field with assistance. Ward played three series and completed 2 of 7 passes for 42 yards. Ward's highlight was a 35-yard completion to Elic Ayomanor on the Titans' opening series. Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NFL draft, had another long pass dropped by Van Jefferson. The teams traded third-quarter touchdowns. Jemar Jefferson's 16-yard scoring run, which capped a 13-play drive, gave the Titans a 20-13 lead. Easton Stick, who played the first three quarters for Atlanta, threw a 52-yard scoring pass to Chris Blair to tie the game. Brandon Allen, who played behind Ward, threw a 25-yard scoring pass to tight end Gunnar Helm late in the first half. Nathan Carter produced the Falcons' first touchdown with a 43-yard run in the third quarter. Younghoe Koo kicked field goals of 42 and 36 yards for Atlanta (0-2). SEAHAWKS 33, CHIEFS 16 SEATTLE (AP) — Sam Darnold looked the part of a franchise quarterback in his first appearance at Lumen Field as Seattle beat Kansas City. Darnold, who did not appear in the Seattle Seahawks' preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, completed 4 of 4 passes for 34 yards on the opening drive. Darnold, who signed to a three-year, $100.5 million contract with Seattle in the offseason, made good use of both his legs and his tight ends during his sole series. He had no issues rolling out to either his left or right, locating tight ends AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo for short passes, as well as fullback Robbie Ouzts and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for deeper completions. Backup quarterback Drew Lock impressed in relief of Darnold, throwing a couple of touchdown passes to wide receiver Jake Bobo, and completing 10 of 12 passes for 129 yards. Running backs Zach Charbonnet and Damien Martinez each added touchdowns on the ground in the first and third quarters, respectively. The Chiefs, meanwhile, did not play quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and other starters from the team that fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in last season's Super Bowl. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew found tight end Robert Tonyan for a 1-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Titans edge Falcons 23-20
ATLANTA — Kendell Brooks scored on a 53-yard interception return and rookie quarterback Cameron Ward had mixed results as the Tennessee Titans beat the Atlanta Falcons 23-20 in a preseason game Friday night. Joey Slye's 23-yard field goal with 9:03 remaining gave Tennessee (1-1) the lead.
