Tennessee Titans OTAs: Cam Ward's surprising debut, observations from QB competition, shocking attendance and high intensity

The Tennessee Titans held their first OTA practice in front of media on Wednesday, the second practice of Phase 3 in which they have the least restrictions. This means more time on the field doing more meaningful “football” things, including 7-on-7’s and 11-on-11’s. While they won’t strap up the pads until later in the summer, this was a decent first look at a number of new pieces Brian Callahan & Co. have to work with in 2025.

Here are all the things that stood out to me from Wednesday’s practice, where I focused primarily on offense and the QBs to begin the camp circuit:

Standout Attendance

Brian Callahan said during his press conference last week that attendance was up so far this year during the voluntary portion of OTAs, and he wasn’t kidding. We saw all but six players on the 91-man roster (91 due to an international exemption) on the practice field in some capacity. Those missing were Jeffery Simmons, T’Vondre Sweat, Lloyd Cushenberry, Kevin Zeitler, L’Jarius Sneed, and Tyler Lockett.

Fellow member of the beat Paul Kuharsky did some digging and it turns out Simmons was the only guy actually absent both days this week. Sweat is working through some soreness, Cushenberry and Sneed are rehabbing known injuries, Lockett is working through a hammy, and Zeitler is being eased into things.

Is Simmons being absent a big deal? No. He’s one of the only guys who is simultaneously good, old, and not new to the team. That’s the kind of player that you often see miss portions of voluntary workouts. Now, would it be nice for one of the more prominent leaders of this team to be around right now for the leadership element of the Titans unique offseason program? I’m sure it would be. But this is such a May talking point. He’ll surely be in the fold soon.

Elevated Intensity

If you ask me for the thing that felt the most different at this first media practice of the year as compared to this time last year, it’s the intensity. We were prepped for this last week at the podium too. At the core of the Titans intensive offseason program is eliminating self-inflicted wounds and establishing a way of life that holds everybody to a high standard. Everything the players do in practice is being heavily scrutinized and graded already, even though it’s May. You can read a lot more about that process here.

So it’s not surprising that things felt more dialed-up and dialed-in. But they did, and I found it notable. Everybody from the players, to the coaches, to the support staff had this air of urgency to them that you don’t always see this time of year. It’s almost a “hey we sucked last year and everybody’s job is on the line” vibe. Which… is pretty appropriate.

Cam Ward’s Debut

Cam looked good in his first public practice with the full team! He wasn’t melting anybody’s face off by any means, but he didn’t look like a green rookie out there either. We’ll do plenty of Cam Ward (over-) analysis this offseason, but the thing that stood out most on my first watch was his aggressiveness.

Of the four QBs in the rotation, he was the only one who wasn’t taking any check-downs. In both 7’s and 11’s, he was always looking to push the ball downfield. His first pass of the practice was a threaded ball across the middle to fellow rookie Gunnar Helm. He kept that energy all morning, looking to take chances. I’m personally a fan of that approach this time of year. Now is when QBs should experiment, try some stuff, and fail. It’s tinkering season.

Now, if you don’t flip the switch on that behavior once September rolls around, you can get yourself into trouble in a hurry. And perhaps that’s why practicing to take the check down from time to time is important for some players. But we’ll wait and see if that becomes an issue down the road.

The Will Levis Question

Levis was clearly the 2nd best QB on the field on Wednesday. This didn’t come as some surprise, but rather a confirmation of what we felt we already knew. The other backups the Titans signed just don’t bring anything to the table. And Levis, coming off of a spring training with QB guru Jordan Palmer in California, still has real upside traits. He’s slimmed down too.