The Tennessee Titans have put Cam Ward through a difficult start to his NFL career, but their young quarterback isn’t interested in allowing the outside noise to change him.
Ward addressed the criticism and adversity surrounding Tennessee while speaking with reporters, delivering a blunt response when asked about dealing with everything being said outside the building. Titans insider Terry McCormick shared Ward’s comments.
“At the end of the day, people are weird,” Ward said. “They can say what they want. At the end of the day, I think football can take care of a lot of it.”
Ward also explained that his family understands the position he’s in and how badly he has wanted this opportunity. Rather than allowing the criticism to dictate his approach, Ward believes producing on Sundays is ultimately the only response that matters.
Titans Still Need to Give Cam Ward a Real Chance
“Everyone in the locker room is going to go through adversity at some point,” Ward said. “Just gotta continue to prepare the same way and continue to stay the same person. You can never get too high or too low. At the end of the day, you make plays on the football field and everything else handles itself.”
That’s the mentality Tennessee should want from its quarterback.
Ward hasn’t played flawless football, and there are legitimate questions about his development. That’s expected for a young quarterback learning how to survive at the NFL level. What Tennessee can’t afford to do is evaluate Ward in a vacuum while ignoring everything happening around him.
The Titans have to give him the support necessary to actually answer those questions.
Young quarterbacks need protection, reliable weapons, stability and an offensive structure that allows them to develop. Ward still has plenty he needs to improve himself, but asking him to overcome deficiencies around him while simultaneously learning the NFL game makes an already difficult transition considerably harder.
Through all of it, Ward hasn’t sounded like someone looking for excuses. His message is essentially the opposite. Keep preparing. Stay level. Make plays. Let football eventually silence everything else.
That’s exactly why Tennessee needs to remain committed to figuring this out with Ward instead of allowing the noise surrounding a struggling team to consume its young quarterback.
Ward believes football will eventually take care of the criticism. Now the Titans need to make sure they’ve given him a legitimate chance to prove it.
“People Are Weird”: Titans QB Cam Ward Sends Blunt Message to Critics