NASHVILLE, Tenn. — At the Titans’ open OTA practice on Wednesday, Cam Ward set the tone for 7-on-7 action on his first dropback. The No. 1 overall pick threaded a pass to fourth-round rookie tight end Gunnar Helm between the hashes, through a handful of defenders, for the pretty completion.
Middle-of-the-field success in tight windows was a theme for Ward in the drill, where he completed 8-of-10 passes. His bullet-like throws seemed to have touch. What worked for him is important to note because of what happened at Tennessee’s first OTA on Tuesday.
At that practice, which was closed to the media, Ward attempted a tight-window throw that didn’t work.
“I’m sure in college, that ball was open and got completed,” offensive coordinator Nick Holz said. “[On Tuesday], different result. And he’s kind of like, ‘Well, I used to do this and that.’ [Then he] sits in the meetings, sees the speed of the game, how quick those windows are. There’s differences.
“It’s the second day against actual people, but today was better than [Tuesday],” Holz added. “Obviously, it was one day, and we’ll take that progress.”
Ward acknowledged that he’s acclimating to differences in field spacing and the speed of defenses at the NFL level. With Tennessee in the third phase of the offseason program, Wednesday marked the first look at the former Miami star on the field with his veteran teammates and against a live defense (albeit without pads).
Ward said his biggest transition to this point has been adjusting to the hash marks. At the NFL level, they’re 70 feet and nine inches from the sidelines, compared to just 60 feet from the boundary in the college game. Defenses can better disguise their coverages.
Passes have to be on time “a lot more” in the pros, Ward said.
“You come from college and you just feel like the wide field is so far out there,” Holz said. “You get all these boundary pressures all the time. All the field pressures in college, you can kind of see them from a mile away. In the NFL, the ball is pretty much in the middle of the field.
“We want him to be aggressive,” Holz added. “You draft a player like him that has his tape and you don’t want to coach all those really positive aspects out of him and make him a robot. But at the same time, he’s got to learn the value of the football. too.”
Ward said he noticed the difference playing against an NFL defense “from day one.”
“Especially the safeties,” he explained. “They close down real hard on the digs, shallows. They cover ground. It’s really just about being on time with myself and the receivers. At the end of the day, it’s about making plays. Football is not going to change.”
To ease Ward’s transition, the Titans are incorporating concepts he had in college — Incarnate Word, Washington State and Miami — into their playbook. In their two trips to Miami in the pre-draft process, the Titans met with the Hurricanes staff about what worked for Ward in their offense. Every day or two, the Titans coaches will “sprinkle” some of the familiar concepts onto Ward’s slate, according to Holz, so he can play confidently and fast.
“We’re kind of just seeing what sticks in the end,” Holz said.
For now, Ward is just appreciative to practice against a defense.
“Going against air is BS. It’s not real football,” Ward said. “You finally get real game speed, real timing for what it’s going to be like. And you see a lot of people’s character when the bullets start flying.”
For the No. 1 pick in the draft, the hope of a franchise’s future, the bullets have already started to fly.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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