By PAUL KUHARSKY
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The closest thing to the full version of the 2026 Titans was on display for the first time Thursday, and the No. 1 thing you’d like to stand out stood out.
Ward put his new weapon, No. 4 pick Carnell Tate, to work.
The rookie scored a deep touchdown over a busted coverage involving Kevin Winston and Marcus Harris, caught a mid-range ball over the middle for a touchdown in a 2-minute drill, and when the Titans ran a couple of additional plays from inside the 5, he grabbed another score from Ward in the back of the end zone.
Calvin Ridley and Elic Ayomanor were missing from the receiving core and Chimere Dike was seen on a side field. But the passing offense was clearly centered around Tate, who caught several other passes at all levels while showing off his versatility.
“He’s got great hands, he wins in man coverage, he’s a strider,” Ward said of Tate. “He’s a guy who can create versus off, versus press, he really doesn’t drop nothing, so I’ve just got to continue to find ways to get him the ball early, get him the ball, continue to work on timing.”
Carnell Tate runs under a deep one uncovered. #Titans pic.twitter.com/JDKc05FbvL
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) May 21, 2026
Ward sees great potential in Tate, and spoke with nuance about the receiver’s outlook as a Titan.
“In this system, he’s going to have a lot of field to have a lot of freelance within his routes, feel space to sit down,” Ward said. “For a rookie coming in, I think this is one of the best offenses he could be in. just because he’s going to get coached, but he’s not going to be over-coached. He’s going to still be able to play football how he sees it. He listens to the quarterback and he’s going to be a great target for me.”
The rest of what’s up with Ward, who we have not heard from since Jan. 5:
Shoulder and fitness: Ward, who suffered a shoulder injury in the Titans 2025 season finale, showed no ill-effects from it, throwing the ball with zip, moving comfortably and operating efficiently.
He said he aims to continue to work on it, get it stronger, lessen the injury factor and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
He’s noticeably slimmer.
He’s said he’s down about 10 pounds, trying to get leaner to be durable for a long season and also get a bit faster. It amounts to watching his calories and proportions of protein and carbs, doing more cardio and working on his body.
On the diet front, Robert Saleh said he eliminated seed oils from the Titans building – something that got huge reaction on Twitter and that Amani Hooker said has had a bearing on how he feels.
The #Titans got rid of all the seed oils in their building, Robert Saleh said.
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) May 21, 2026
The focus: His big mechanical focus is slowing himself down.
“Just being slower in the pocket, not getting to the top of my drop as fast before a receiver even makes his decision,” he said. “Just continue to feel the tackles set. Not put them in bad situations. And just continue to lead the football team.”
He also spoke about finding new ways to motivate teammates, learning what makes them tick.
Brian Daboll: While Daboll said when he arrived as offensive coordinator that he wanted to see the game though Ward’s eyes, Ward spun that around.
“The biggest thing that I am trying to do is get better and see it from a play-caller’s standpoint,” Ward said. “And why he’s calling this play. Whether it’s first or second down, I’m going to try to see what his mindset is. And it’s been going good so far.”
He said even long play calls are simplified and straight to the point.
#Titans QBs. No mitch Trubisky today. pic.twitter.com/TK2ABtqxyC
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) May 21, 2026
I found this particularly interesting: He said he didn’t think things were slowing down for him, but that the Titans are “running faster plays where I can control a lot of it -- I get to see angles of guy, where they are going, I just anticipate the throw.”
I’ve not heard a quarterback talk like that about the concept of the game slowing down for him, and it’s a vantage point I want to monitor and follow up on.
Teammates talk: Free agent addition WanDale Robinson said the first thing he noticed about Ward as they began working together was the arm talent.
Peter Skoronski who was a big part of Ward’s protection in his rookie year said he already sees signs of progress.
“It seems like they are playing to his strengths a lot,” Skoronski said. I think when you have that guy humming, everything kind of falls into place behind that. Everyone has sort of bought into that mentality.
“We all know that the talent is there. … The leadership has always been there; I’m not concerned about that. The consistency, sort of the everyday monotonous plays of being a great quarterback, he will continue to make more and more. I’ve seen that more so far. But also Cam being Cam, using that arm and making those insane throws that he makes, I think is really what we’re looking for and I think he’s tracking the right way.”
