TAMPA, FL ― No one, under any circumstances, should spoil the ending of the 2023 John Cena movie “Freelance” for Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward.
Ward arrived to Raymond James Stadium six hours before the Titans kicked off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Aug. 9, marking Ward’s preseason debut after being selected as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft back in April. Most of his teammates, by contrast, showed up about three hours before kick. And crucially, the field was tarped over to protect against rain until two hours before kick, so it’s not as if Ward could go out and get loose.
So he passed the time, watching film, reminiscing, relaxing, and watching Freelance. Well, watching part of Freelance. By the time Ward finished his day with a 5-for-8 passing mark, throwing for 67 yards and leading one touchdown drive in two series in a 29-7 loss to the Bucs, he still hadn’t quite finished the movie.
“I’ll let you know how it goes,” Ward joked in his postgame interview.
Waiting after an early arrival was a recurring theme of Ward’s day. Ward got his first on-field exposure early in the first quarter and promptly went three-and-out, throwing a pair of incomplete passes to only last 45 seconds of game time before heading back to the sideline. Then the Bucs’ offense promptly went on a 17-play, 10:48 drive that carried the game into the second quarter that Ward probably could’ve used to finish his movie had the game not been ongoing.
So after the long delay, Ward trotted back out onto the field, the first drive’s failure behind him, and instantly got hot, hitting receiver Calvin Ridley for 27 yards, then for 10 yards, then for 13 more yards on back-to-back-to-back snaps. Follow that up with a third-and-9 conversion and a third-and-6 conversion to push his offense ahead into the red zone, setting up a Tony Pollard rushing touchdown, and Ward had his first scoring drive as a pro.
“I just think my biggest (takeaway) is I’ve got to maximize my drives,” Ward said. “I had a three-and-out in the first quarter and that was all we did. So I’ve got to maximize my drives and just try to continuously move the chains. You’ve got to give the defense a break.”
Titans coach Brian Callahan said he was impressed with the way Ward handled the operation; there were no pre-snap penalties or mental mistakes that set the Titans back with Ward on the field. And he was also pleased with the Ward was able to respond to adversity, both in his response to the three-and-out and in his response to being put in a first-and-20 situation that he clawed out of with two of his completions to Ridley.
Ward credits his offensive line for keeping him protected, his receivers for making plays after the catch and the coaches for getting the plays in quickly and setting him up for success. He says that as he heads into his next preseason game next week against Atlanta, his goals are to play in favorable downs and distances, let his playmakers do their jobs in space and speed up the operation to spend less time idling between snaps.
But overall, Ward seems pleased with the performance.
“It felt good just to get more than three plays under our belt,” Ward said. “To get a rhythm as an offense. It was a lot of guys’ first time playing together, so it felt good to come up with points.”
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.