It’s not a surprise given his draft status, but the Titans are going to use training camp to get No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward ready to be a starter.
Head coach Brian Callahan told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that Ward will take his reps with the starting offense in practice.
“Cam will take the majority of the ones reps, obviously,” Callahan said. “That’s going to be a huge part of his development over the course of camp. Those other guys will fill in those other spots, the twos and the threes reps that are coming up.
“I’ve generally really carried three quarterbacks a lot of years in camps for that reason — so there’s more reps to go around for the guys that you’re trying to pour into, and those are guys we’re trying to pour into.”
With Will Levis set to undergo season-ending surgery, Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle are the other available quarterbacks currently on the Titans’ roster.
But Tennessee will focus its efforts on Ward’s continuous improvement.
“His development is a daily process and there’s going to be things that we’ve got to correct every day,” Callahan said. “There’s going to be things he does really well every day where we’ll try to continue those. So every single day, I think, is going to be an opportunity for development for him, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Callahan also noted he feels good about how Ward developed during the offseason program.
“I think at the end of the spring, he was starting to really understand and feel what that timing feels like,” Callahan said. “This is now going to be a huge point of emphasis in this early part of camp to get as comfortable with it as possible as quickly as we can. And I think he’s up to that task.”
When it comes to leadership — an important quality for any quarterback — Callahan feels that’s going to be a natural progression, and it’s not necessarily something Ward needs to focus on.
“I believe that Cam’s got a very natural ability about him, just his personality,” Callahan said. “And I think I just, for the most part, would like him to focus on playing good football and being himself. And I think that’s going to be enough for him. He’s got natural leadership qualities. They’ll come out the more he’s involved, the more he has success. That’ll happen naturally, I think. So, I don’t want to force him to do anything that’s not organic to him, and I think he’ll do a really good job with that.”
