The Titans have announced their training camp schedule, which includes seven opportunities for fans to see this year’s No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward practice this summer.
Tennessee will hold six of its seven open practices at team headquarters, Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park. The first session there will take place on Wednesday, July 23.
There will also be a practice at Nissan Stadium on Saturday, July 26.
While all practices are free to attend, fans must register for a ticket on the Titans’ website.
Tennessee will announce times for all practices in the coming weeks.
For Tyjae Spears, the best thing about this season is it’s not last season.
Spears had ankle and hamstring injuries in 2024, along with two concussions, limiting him to 12 games and 114 touches for 536 yards and five touchdowns.
“I learned that I can fight adversity really well,” Spears said, via Jim Wyatt of the team website. “I learned a lot over the course of last year, and in life. I’ve done a lot of reflecting in the last year.”
The Titans made Spears a third-round pick in 2023, and he backed up Derrick Henry as a rookie, gaining 838 total yards and scoring three touchdowns on152 touches. He still was the team’s second-leading rusher to Tony Pollard last season despite his stats decreasing.
Coach Brian Callahan said the Titans plan to have more of an equal distribution of carries among the running backs. Julius Chestnut and Kalel Mullings are behind Pollard and Spears.
“Just trying to make the most of my opportunities,” Spears said. “Definitely hungry for more, but I can’t do anything about last year. Confidence is building but definitely hungry for more.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time, and being the best I can be. I know that statement gets thrown around, but really stamping and solidifying it. I just want to show my best self whenever I can.”
Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks says he’s feeling good as he recovers from the torn ACL that ended his 2024 season in October.
“I feel amazing, just blessed,” Burks said, via TennesseeTitans.com. “I’ve just been leaning on God, leaning on the people that believe in me, care. And I feel really good, and happy to be in the situation I’m in.”
Even before the injury, Burks had been a disappointment as the 18th overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Through three NFL seasons he has just 49 catches for 665 yards and one touchdown. Burks knows he’s no lock to make the Titans’ roster but says he’s not worried about competing with the other players in the Tennessee wide receivers room.
“I am not going out to prove nobody wrong, I am going out to prove myself right,” he said. “I tore my ACL [on October 18] and I am running. I am running routes, doing everything within those seven months, and it’s like, ‘Wow.’ And it’s nobody but God who made it happen. That’s who I play for and that’s who I lean on. I am not worried about whoever is in the room or whoever we’ve got. We’re a team and we’re going to go out and play ball.”
Burks hasn’t played as much ball as the Titans were hoping he would in his first three seasons, but he’s preparing for a training camp in which he hopes he can prove that he belongs.
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.
