Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward created a headline after his team’s 26-0 loss to the Texans with the utterance of two words: “We ass.”
On Wednesday, coach Brian Callahan addressed the implication of Cam’s candor.
“He’s still a really — he’s a young player,” Callahan told reporters. “You know, he’s the number one overall pick. He’s the face of the franchise, if you will. He’s got high expectations for himself. We have high expectations around him, and we all want to meet those, and his ability to be in that spotlight in that moment I think is a growing process for him. I think he’s growing up. I think he’s starting to understand the weight of his words, what those things mean, when he speaks and everyone’s listening and watching. And even though he says — you know, he follows up the commentary with a lot of the right things, it’s the one liner that gets taken. And, you know, he’s learning how to deal with you guys and how to understand how to have those conversations and still maintain the image that he wants to maintain as it’s a starting quarterback. So growing up is not always easy, and I think there’s some things that he’s learning along the way, just like we all do.”
While Callahan is right regarding the impact of a starting quarterback’s words, Ward’s comments were not incorrect. The Titans are currently not good. And they seem to be getting worse each week.
What was Ward supposed to say? We’re close to going on a 10-game winning streak?
The overriding problem is this — the Titans earned the right to make the first overall pick because they were the worst team in the league last year. It’s not easy to make significant strides in one offseason. It’s a work in progress. And, so far, progress is not being made.
“I just want to win,” Ward said Sunday. “When was the last time Tennessee won? I don’t know. I’m trying to win.”
That’s really all that matters at this point, for Ward and for Callahan. Because if the 10-game losing streak dating back to last year doesn’t end soon, whether the Titans win or lose will no longer be Callahan’s concern.
