NASHVILLE \u2013 The Titans kick off rookie minicamp on Friday at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park.<\/p>\n
Friday’s session is closed to media, but Saturday’s practice is open, so get ready to have your social media feeds flooded with photos and videos.<\/p>\n
Here’s a look at five things I’ll be looking for over the weekend:<\/p>\n
I’ve been around Cam Ward several times so far, starting with his Pro Day back in March.<\/p>\n
On the campus of the University of Miami, what impressed me as much as Ward’s football skills was his presence around his teammates, and how they responded to him.<\/p>\n
Ward arrived in Nashville with members of the rookie class on Thursday, when he got fitted for a helmet, and began to get to know his new NFL teammates.<\/p>\n
I’m looking forward to seeing Ward in a Titans uniform, slinging the football.<\/p>\n
I’m also looking forward to seeing the rookie quarterback take command of this young group of Titans.<\/p>\n
Ward is part of a nine-player draft class that arrives with some excitement.<\/p>\n
Second-round pick Oluwafemi Oladejo joins an outside linebacker position looking for players to make an impact. His crash course begins this weekend.<\/p>\n
But I’ll admit the three draft picks \u2013 outside of Ward \u2013 I’ll be keeping an eye on the closest will be receivers Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor and tight end Gunnar Helm.<\/p>\n
All three are big and athletic, and they play positions where immediate help is needed.<\/p>\n
The Undrafted Free Agents<\/p>\n
The team put out its official list of undrafted free agents on Thursday, and it included 16 players.<\/p>\n
Some intriguing guys are on the list, from offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson to defensive lineman Cam Horsley to running back Micah Bernard to cornerbacks Jalen Kimber and Jermari Harris.<\/p>\n
And, of course, receiver Xavier Restrepo.<\/p>\n
Can a few of these guys stick?<\/p>\n
Restrepo Begins His Fight<\/p>\n
I’m singling Restrepo out here, because his story is an intriguing one.<\/p>\n
I mentioned earlier I was at Miami’s Pro Day, where Restrepo also performed.<\/p>\n
I vividly remember seeing the anguish on his face, and the faces of his friends and family members, after Restrepo ran the 40 at a much slower pace (4.8) than many anticipated.<\/p>\n
Those around Restrepo did their best to pump him up, while he probably wondered how much the time impacted his draft status.<\/p>\n
Restrepo, of course, didn’t get drafted.<\/p>\n
But he’ll get a chance to prove himself with the Titans, playing alongside his college quarterback in Ward.<\/p>\n
It should be fun to watch.<\/p>\n
The draft picks, undrafted free agents \u2013 and tryout players \u2013 won’t be the only new faces on the field at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in the next few days.<\/p>\n
The Titans also have some coaches who will be on public display for the first time in Tennessee.<\/p>\n
One of them is special teams coordinator John “Bones” Fassel, who is known for his energetic approach.<\/p>\n
We’ll all get to see it up close and in person at rookie minicamp, and moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASHVILLE \u2013 The Titans kick off rookie minicamp on Friday at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park. Friday’s session…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2061],"tags":[7,786,6,1018,526,394,2411,527],"class_list":{"0":"post-36699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-homepage-centerpiece","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-team-football-news","12":"tag-tennessee","13":"tag-tennessee-titans","14":"tag-tennesseetitans","15":"tag-titans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}