Cam Ward Ready For Titans Opener After Preseason Finale

Ward got things started on the drive with a solid 17-yard pass to veteran wide receiver Van Jefferson. He also found rookie Elic Ayomanor four plays later for a 13-yard completion that pushed the Titans into Vikings territory.

He also found Chestnut on a five-yard catch that turned into a first down after a Vikings defensive holding call, putting the Titans into first-and-goal. He nearly found the end zone with Ayomanor, but fell a yard short, allowing Chestnut to run the ball across the goal line on the next play.

In Ward's final stat line, he completed 3 of 4 passes for 36 yards, but he looked far more impressive than the meager box score suggests. After failing to engineer a scoring drive in the Titans' game last week against the Atlanta Falcons, he put together a strong performance that has the team in a great spot going into the regular season.

The goal for the Titans was to have Ward become more comfortable in the system going into the regular season and that was accomplished successfully. He still doesn't have all the answers, but that's perfectly okay with the Titans. It's a marathon; not a sprint, but the Titans are off to a very good start in the race.

Now, Ward and the Titans will brace for the team's cuts from 90 players to 53. The team needs to get down to the final roster by Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT. Then, the Titans will begin getting ready to face off against Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos in the season opener on Sunday, Sept. 7 inside Empower Field at Mile High.