Titans' Calvin Ridley explains how Cam Ward has right mentality to succeed as rookie QB

Barring a surprising development, rookie Cam Ward will likely emerge as the Tennessee Titans' Week 1 starting quarterback over 2023 second-round draft pick Will Levis at some point this summer.

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley suggested that Ward has the right type of personality to find success as a first-year starter. 

"He’s relaxed," Ridley said about Ward, as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "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, [expletive] up, doing good. You’ve just got to have that '[expletive] it' mentality. He’s kind of got that."

For an article posted on Tuesday, John Keim of ESPN detailed how Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders "became known for quickly moving on from a play or a game, good or bad" amid what some have referred to as the best rookie season ever produced by an NFL quarterback. Meanwhile, the previously mentioned Levis was responsible for 26 turnovers over the first 21 games of his career. 

Per Derrik Klassen of The 33rd Team, Levis had "jittery footwork and scattershot accuracy" as a college signal-caller. 

Turron Davenport of ESPN recently touched upon how Ward took "accountability" for a mistake after he and Van Jefferson "weren't on the same page about how the wideout came out of his break on a route" during a practice. On Tuesday, Ridley addressed how he has developed chemistry with Ward this spring. 

"I honestly want to hear what he thinks because I want to be in the spot where he wants me," Ridley added about Ward. "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."

On Monday, CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin predicted that the Titans will trade Levis before Ward starts Tennessee's Week 1 game at the Denver Broncos on Sept. 7. It sounds like Ridley and others in the locker room would be fine if head coach Brian Callahan officially named Ward the Titans' QB1 as soon as during the club's three-day mandatory minicamp that's scheduled to run from June 10-12.