Titans at Nissan Stadium: Cam Ward's Day, Treylon Burks' injury and the Hype

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Observations from the Titans’ Saturday practice at Nissan Stadium…

Ward’s day: Cam Ward did some very nice things, looking poised and in control overall.

But not everything was smooth, with a couple of mistakes and a couple of plays that qualified as getting the job done.

Like the first play of seven-on-seven, when he may have been surprised to see Calvin Ridley wide open up the right side against Roger McCreary, who got turned around. The deep throw was late and short, but Ridley had time to slow and

Cam Ward

collect it. It was a ‘C’ throw – see this recent story about quarterback scoring throws – but it got Ridley into the end zone, so it had an ‘A’ result. 

Are inside linebackers getting a bead on Ward over the middle? One practice after we saw Cody Barton grab an interception in the middle of the field on a ball I think was intended for Van Jefferson and drop another chance, James Williams cut hard to his right and snatched a central pass clearly intended for Jefferson.

That’s not a good development. However, it’s essential to note that the field appears to be expanding for Ward. OTAs and training camp really featured Ward throwing to the middle of the field, and Ward and the offense have increasingly been expanding things.

Ward spun and stepped up to find Jefferson on the left sideline. He stepped up and threw a lovely ball to Ridley against McCreary and Amani Hooker as the receiver went off the right side of the field (when JC Latham created time by taking Dre’Mont Jones for a long ride wide).

“We’re putting in the work, it’s timing work, we’ve got to get our chemistry down a little bit more and be on the same page, but that’s what we want to look like,” Ridley said.

Throwing back across his body hurt Ward a few times in the red zone back in minicamp.

But he recognized a great opportunity Saturday when Simmons chased him to his right. On the busted play, he saw Ridley had broken free going the other way and the risk was minimal as there was no safety there, just McCreary. He lofted the ball over McCreary and Ridley ran to an easy TD.

It made for a nice moment, but Simmons had him, and in real life it would have been a hit or a sack.

Burks hurt: Every time Treylon Burks goes to the ground, Titans coaches surely hold their breath the way the press corps does. He dove to collect a pass from Cam Ward up the right side over Roger McCreary, Burks landed out of bounds but bounced up. And like everyone, I was happy to see him bounce up. But as I looked up to the big video board, there he weas, holding on to his collarbone. A few minutes later he was off to the locker room.

“Treylon Burks is being evaluated right now for a shoulder injury and we’ll have an update on his status at the appropriate time,” the team said after practice.

It’s a constant pattern with him. Get his body right, create some hope – Ward recently raved about him – and then suffer a setback.

Hype: The football powers of the Titans have done well to reset the way they talk about expectations. I wrote about how Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi measured what they said about the potential of this team compared to what Ran Carthon did just a year before.

In line with that change and the departure of the excellent but highly excitable Mike Keith, I hoped the broadcast department would follow the lead, if only a bit. I understand the jobs are to hype the team, even if it’s coming off 3-14. But there is a line between being enthusiastic about players and plays and going over the top. We got our first small taste of Tyler Zarzour and friend-to-all Dave McGinnis as a pair as they narrated much of the practice, with Amie Wells and Will Boling conducting interviews from the field.

Brinker and Borgonzi aren’t overselling. Maybe Titans Radio could take a small cue? It’s an easy adjustment to call Dre’Mont Jones one of the Titans' “promising pass rushers” rather than “one of those great pass rushers for the Titans” or not to say a Ward pass that sent Ridley sprawling was perfectly placed when he could have put him in a more favorable spot. I don't know that it was constant. I do know I'm programmed to hear it when it's dialed up.

The team is at a potential crossroads here. I hope the determination hasn’t been fully made to fully overstate.

The crowd: The crowd was thin at Nissan Stadium. It was very hot for an 11 CT start. 

The team has mixed up who can be at practices at its MetroCenter headquarters, with season ticketholders, special groups and fans who’ve gotten limited tickets coming on the same day and the first two days of that have been well attended given the limited space.”

Ridley is confident crowds will grow.

“We hear everything, see everything,” Ridley said. “We have that taste in our mouth from last year. Nobody wants to suck. Definitely not us and definitely not me.”

Bad start: This isn't huge, but it's symbolic. The Titans spent the whole offseason emphasizing the need to stop making mistakes that hurt them and set them back.

On the first snap of positional drills back at Nissan Stadium, here's how the defensive line started.

Cron Job Starts