For NFL players, the next five or six weeks can be the most important of the year.
Will they be ready to go when training camp opens, or will the gains of the offseason program be squandered by sitting around, watching bowling on TV, and/or eating pork rinds?
Titans quarterback Cam Ward, to no surprise, will be ready to roll when he and his teammates reconvene. Asked about his plans for the down time, Ward said this (via Buck Reising of 104.5 The Fan in Nashville): “Just work out, stay in the playbook, and throw the fuck out the ball.”
The question specifically referred to the possibility of getting together and working out with teammates. While he didn’t answer directly, the affirmative may be implied within his vow to “throw the fuck out the ball.”
We’ll all find out what Ward can do when it’s time to play. So far, however, he seems like the real deal — both as to physical ability and as to his commitment to his craft.
Center Lloyd Cushenberry was in the middle of his first season with the Titans when he suffered a torn Achilles.
While he was sidelined for the rest of 2024, he’s been getting back into form and may be able to start Tennessee’s season opener against Denver on Sept. 7.
“I don’t want to put a timetable on it yet, but I am on track,” Cushenberry said this week, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “Things are looking up, and I just have to take it one day at a time. This summer is going to be huge for me, getting back into football shape, and ready to go. But I’ll be back. I’ll be back soon.
“I am very optimistic about Week 1, and being out there, starting, and ready to go. My body will tell me if I’m ready, but I feel pretty good.”
Cushenberry added that he’s “close to being back, cleared and healthy and ready to go.”
If he is cleared for the start of the season, Cushenbery will take on his former team. The Broncos selected him in the third round of the 2020 draft and he started 57 games for the club over his first four seasons.
The Titans are holding training camp at home, but they are taking an extended road trip this summer.
Paul Kuharsky of paulkuharsky.com reports the team will hold three joint practices and two preseason games on an eight-day bonding trip.
The Titans will leave Nashville on Wednesday, Aug. 6 after practice for Tampa. They will practice against the Buccaneers in Tampa on Aug. 7 ahead of their preseason opener on Saturday, Aug. 9.
The Titans will fly to Atlanta after the game, take Aug. 10 off and then have a light practice on Aug. 11 at the Falcons’ practice facility. The teams then will hold joint practices Aug. 12 and Aug. 13 ahead of their preseason game Aug. 15.
“I wanted to go away for camp,” coach Brian Callahan said, via Kuharsky. “We looked at a couple different options. A lot of them just didn’t wind up making a ton of sense. . . . So, we were trying to figure out: How do we try to make training camp feel a little bit more like training camp? How do you find a way to get your team together? Because now a days, practice ends, the day is over at like 5:30, and they all go home. So, it’s more like preseason practice than it is like training camp. So, I was trying to find a way to manufacture a little of that training camp feeling with going on the road for two straight weeks.”
The Titans explored spending time in Napa or Newport Beach, California, or The Greenbrier in West Virginia. They couldn’t make the logistics work, settling on Tampa and Atlanta instead.
“There is nothing else to do but be together,” Callahan said. “That was the intent. How do I find a way in training camp to get our team together, change the scenery up, go against somebody else, deal with a little bit of adversity. You’re on the road. It’s not comfortable. You’re not familiar with your surroundings. How do we respond to that?”
Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons spent the offseason away from the team facility, training on his own. Simmons showed up for the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, and he arrived 20 pounds lighter.
It’s no wonder coach Brian Callahan didn’t worry about Simmons’ absence.
“I feel great,” Simmons said, via Jim Wyatt of the team website. “I feel light on my feet, and I still feel very explosive.”
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson started a tradition last year of asking players who miss the offseason program to do up-downs upon their return. Simmons admits he was winded.
But he said it was “great” to be back with his teammates.
“It’s great to be back on the field with the guys, getting to work with the guys,” Simmons said. “It’s not always an easy decision, making the decision not to be here with your teammates, especially with a lot of new guys. . . . But I made that decision. It was a personal decision. But today was a good day, and I was glad to be back.”
Simmons is under contract in Tennessee through the 2027 season and he made his third Pro Bowl after the 2024 season.
Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed’s first season with the Titans ended after five games because of a quad injury and he’s also dealing with a knee injury that has kept him off the field this spring.
Titans head coach Brian Callahan said at a Tuesday press conference that Sneed’s status isn’t expected to change during this week’s minicamp. Callahan was asked a short time later about how much the team can count on Sneed given his injury issues and his play when he was healthy enough to be on the field last year.
Callahan cited Sneed’s history as a reason to expect good play, but noted that the veteran has to actually show it in a Titans uniform.
“I think everything he’s shown us when he’s here has been fantastic,” Callahan said. “There’s a track record of success as well from what he has been as a player. He’s also got to prove that here. He hasn’t done that yet for us. There’s a little bit of that as well, like we’re waiting for him to show us the player that he’s been. He hasn’t reached that level of play for us, so we’re waiting for that opportunity to occur and I think he’ll be ready for it when it comes. His track record of success and what he’s been as a player is pretty well documented. We just need to get that version of him out here for us.”
Callahan said that the team is always open to adding players at corner because of how many a team needs over the course of a season and making a significant addition might signal some doubt that Sneed can be the player the Titans coveted when he was with the Chiefs.
Former NFL defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones was arrested in Covington, Kentucky, early Saturday morning. He was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place, disorderly conduct and assault of a police officer.
He posted a $10,000 bond and was released around 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
His agent, Peter Schaffer, released a statement on behalf of Jones.
“The recent arrest of Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones in Covington, Kentucky, is yet another example of overzealous policing and the systemic issues that plague our justice system,” the statement reads. “Adam did nothing wrong other than exercise his right to ask why he was being detained — a fundamental question that every citizen should be allowed to ask without fear of retaliation.
“Initially, officers claimed he was being arrested for assault and then shifted to public intoxication (which, in itself, is not a crime in many jurisdictions unless it leads to dangerous behavior), and finally settled on disorderly conduct — simply for asking why he was being detained. This pattern of escalating and inconsistent charges is a clear abuse of authority and demonstrates a troubling trend of police officers prioritizing their own discretion over constitutional rights.
“Adam, like every American, is innocent until proven guilty. Yet, once again, his past is being weaponized against him in the court of public opinion, while the officers involved face no scrutiny for their conduct. The repeated mischaracterization of his encounters with law enforcement — often stemming from minor incidents — only reinforces the need for accountability in policing.
“Enough is enough. People should not be arrested for asking questions, and police should not be allowed to fabricate charges simply because they don’t like the tone of a conversation. This type of behavior erodes trust in law enforcement and undermines justice. Adam deserves fairness, not another headline designed to paint him as a villain for clicks.
“We call for a full and transparent review of this arrest, and we stand firm in the belief that no one should be treated as guilty before they’ve even had their day in court.”
Former NFL defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones is back in legal trouble.
Jones was booked into jail in Kenyon County, Kentucky early on Saturday morning after being arrested in Covington. According to police, via WCPO, officers responded to “a report of a disturbance involving a customer and an employee” at a bar and Jones was taken into custody.
Jones was taken to jail and allegedly assaulted the arresting officer while being booked. He is charged with that assault, disorderly conduct and public intoxication. He is set to appear in court on Monday.
Jones was arrested in Las Vegas last year after the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight on similar charges and he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges related to an incident that led to him being removed from a flight at Cincinnati’s airport in 2023. Jones also served a short stint in jail after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor assault charges in 2021 and had a number of other arrests during his playing career, including charges related to a shooting outside a Las Vegas strip club in 2007.
The NFL suspended Jones for a full season after that arrest. Jones, who was a 2005 first-round pick, was playing for the Titans at the time and he went on to play for the Cowboys, Bengals, and Broncos after being reinstated.
Veteran wide receiver Chris Conley announced his retirement on Saturday.
Conley wrote on Instagram that he set a goal of playing 10 years in the NFL when he began his career and the 2015 third-round pick reached that point with the 49ers last season. He had six catches for 76 yards in 15 games and also had two tackles and a fumble recovery while playing a regular role on special teams.
In his announcement, Conley wrote that “it’s time to set sights on something new” and his agent told Ian Rapoport of NFL Media that Conley will be attending film school at the University of Georgia. That is also where Conley played college football.
The Chiefs drafted Conley and he spent four years with the team before a two-year stint in Jacksonville. He also played for the Texans and Titans before spending the last two seasons with the Niners. He had 226 catches for 2,998 yards and 15 touchdowns in 132 career regular season games.
The Titans have another member of their draft class under contract.
The team announced the signing of fourth-round pick Chimere Dike on Friday. The wide receiver has a four-year deal with the team.
With Dike signed, the only unsigned player from nine-player class is second-round linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo.
Dike transferred from Wisconsin to Florida to play his final college season. He posted a team-high 42 catches for the Gators and picked up 783 yards over the course of the year.
The Titans also drafted Elic Ayomanor in the fourth round. Calvin Ridley, Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson, and Treylon Burks are the more experienced receivers on the roster.
Receiver Calvin Ridley has played with a few different quarterbacks in his career, so he has a good idea of what it takes for one to be successful.
Now working with rookie No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, Ridley had one notable thing to say about the young quarterback’s mindset as he’s gotten to know him. He noted on Tuesday that Ward came to his house and got to meet his brother. And after Ward left, Ridley’s brother noted the calmness that exuded from Ward.
“He’s relaxed,” Ridley said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN. “You need that at the quarterback position, man. You can’t just be an overthinker, a jittery guy. You’ve just got to kind of be OK with, you know, fucking up, doing good.
“You’ve just got to have that ‘fuck it’ mentality. He’s kind of got that.”
That’s good news for a Titans team that has lacked a franchise QB in recent years who can elevate the team in critical situations.
The other thing Ridley is doing at this point is trying to make sure he and Ward are on the same page, and he’s doing it from the quarterback’s perspective.
“I honestly want to hear what he thinks because I want to be in the spot where he wants me,” Ridley said. “So I ask him first, what did I do wrong on the play? No matter the throw, or the catch, or whatever it is — what do I need to do to make you feel better? And then I try to pick his brain of what do I need to do to make you feel better? So that’s pretty much what we’re doing.
“Like I said, it’s easy to relate to him, for me. He’s fun, easy to talk ball with. I just like him a lot, man.”
We’ll see how the budding chemistry between quarterback and receiver translates to the field in the fall. Last season, his first with Tennessee, Ridley finished with 64 receptions for 1,017 yards with four touchdowns. He also took eight carries for 55 yards with a TD.
