The Less Exciting Cam Ward Plays That Mattered in Titans’ Scrimmage

Carnell Tate supplied the highlight, but Robert Saleh was more interested in Cam Ward repeatedly putting the football where it belonged.

By PAUL KUHARSKY

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On the second series with the Titans’ first units on the field at their Friday night scrimmage, Cam Ward made some innocuous, series-extending plays.

He turned around in the pocket to buy time and hit Tyjae Spears, who took the short throw for a big gain. And he hit two short checkdowns to Tony Pollard that kept the offense moving to the lone first-team touchdown.

It wasn’t nearly as exciting as the opening drive, when Carnell Tate made two big catches, one a one-handed beauty.

But it may have been more telling.

“Take what the defense gives you,” Robert Saleh said. “And a lot of times that's what we'll do -- we'll play some zone defense and if you can prove that you'll take those check downs and we got to tighten up a little bit more and that'll allow you to get aggressive.

“But I thought (Ward) did a really nice job making the right decision. And like I said, how do you judge Cam on his success and his growth? Is he making the right decision play in and play out? It's not necessarily the result, not right now, at least in preseason. Is he making the right decisions? And so far through camp he's been doing a great job putting the ball where it's supposed to be.”

That gives Ward a clear measuring stick with one more practice in Nashville before the Titans square off in a joint practice Tuesday in Santa Clara, Calif. against the 49ers, then play them Thursday in the preseason opener. 

More From the Titans’ Scrimmage

A few other quick notes:

Winning play: The defense “beat” the offense 10-9 in the scoring system Saleh designed, where offensive points are lessened and the defense scores with stops and turnovers. It was tied 9-9 when the offense had to settle for a field goal on the final play.

The tiebreaker was a 2-point conversion, and Marcus Harris broke up Cam Ward’s throw to give the defense a 10-9 win.

Celebration: Peter Skoronski was humbled but happy about the deal that made him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.

Notable was the compliment from a guy he lined up across from in the scrimmage and sees during camp.

“I don’t give Pete his props enough, especially to you guys,” Jeffery Simmons said. “He has helped me get better so much.”

Tate: Tate’s one-handed 23-yard catch came on a soft Ward throw over linebackers and led him toward the sideline.

“That’s the stuff I expect out of him,” Ward said. “He’s made some crazy plays. He has great hands. He has a great feel for space.”

Slye: Joey Slye hit only two of four field goals. He made from 22 and 48 and missed from 48 and 53.

"I thought the offense moved the ball really well," Saleh said. "Got to finish field goals at the end."

The other TD: Mitch Trubisky hit Chim Dike over Cody Barton from short range for the other TD.

Will Levis did a Will Levis thing: 

Will Levis even under a new coaching staff is doing his best at creating memes for the #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/GssfG7qmiu

— Ballin (@BallinFFB) August 8, 2026