Cam Ward's second preseason offering was a rather fruitless one.
Ward, the 2025 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick, played three offensive series with a 35-yard connection to fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor serving as the lone highlight during the Tennessee Titans' 23-20 road win over the Atlanta Falcons on Friday.
Ward finished his day completing 2 of 7 passes for 42 yards with no touchdowns, no turnovers and no sacks when he ceded the QB reins to Brandon Allen.
Despite the lackluster statistical results, Titans head coach Brian Callahan is happy with how Ward has carried himself and run the offense.
"He's showing all the things that we need to see from an operations standpoint," Callahan said.
Playing without No. 1 wide receiver Calvin Ridley and starting running back Tony Pollard, Ward and the Titans offense produced just 55 net yards, no offensive points and one first down in 11 plays while the top pick was in the game. Complicating matters were two crucial penalties on the first two drives: a holding penalty that turned a second-and-3 into a second-and-13 on the opening stanza and then a third-down false start.
"What I learned from this game is just not shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties," Ward said. "I think we had a chance to at least score on the three drives that I was out there, but we always had to overcome something."
Ward wasn't pressured and surely could've produced better results, but aside from sturdy play from the offensive line got little help outside of Ayomanor. Most notably, Ward threw a nice ball over double coverage that was dropped by veteran Van Jefferson on second-and-13 in the first quarter.
"That ball he threw that got dropped was an unbelievable throw," Callahan said.
Flexing his strong arm and taking a bit too long at times to get the ball out, Ward is now 7 of 15 for 122 yards in two preseason games. He's still looking for a touchdown throw.
While Ward will remain a work in progress throughout his rookie season, Friday's game most likely shined a light on the help he'll need to move the offense.
Without Ridley, Tyler Lockett and Pollard, the offense was dismal against a Falcons squad that wasn't playing the majority of its starters.
Earlier in the week, Callahan noted that he was happy with Ward's preseason debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Miami product still hadn’t arrived. That remains to be seen after Week 2, as well, but the offense as a whole needs to show up to support Ward.
