Brian Callahan assesses Cameron Ward's Titans preseason debut: 'Cam certainly hasn't arrived yet'

Callahan still sees plenty of room for improvement in the rookie QB

Cameron Ward, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, made a very brief preseason debut Sunday for the Tennessee Titans. While Ward performed relatively well, coach Brian Callahan knows the rookie quarterback still has a lot of work to do to realize his potential. Ward started against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but his day ended quickly. The highly anticipated rookie completed five of his eight attempts for 67 yards with 50 of those yards going to veteran receiver Calvin Ridley.

"We know Cam certainly hasn't arrived yet," Callahan said.

Ultimately, Ward will have many more opportunities to flash his elite upside as training camp continues. College football fans saw plenty of it last season when Ward threw for 4,313 yards, an FBS-leading 39 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

Saturday's game was more about letting him dip his toe into the professional waters as the regular season approaches. Despite a lack of volume against the Bucs, Ward played well enough to land in the top five of Tyler Sullivan's ranking of the 11 rookie quarterbacks.

"We got a lot of things still we're working on," Callahan said. "I thought it was a good start for him, encouraging. It was productive. But yeah, there's a couple of things that we're going to keep grinding on. Still working on getting the ball out fast, still working the timing part of it.

"I think it was good to feel some live action there to feel what that feels like for real, but overall pretty good. But there's certainly plenty of things that we're still working with Cam, so that process is still ongoing."