Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Cam Ward BOUNCES BACK After UGLY START to Tennessee Titans Practice & Carnell Tate Injury Update

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

Cam Ward had another up and down day at Tennessee Titans OTAs with a tough start but a solid finish. This is the perfect time of year for growing pains as Ward learns a new offense and adapts to his new weapons. It is not the perfect time of year to freak out and lose faith in Ward's future. Another big piece of news on the day was the status of Carnell Tate. Tate has been balling out in OTAs, but missed practice Tuesday with a bruise. Apparently, it is not a major concern, but it did allow other wide receivers to step up like Chim Dike and Xavier Restrepo. Finally, the defense made some plays as well with Micah Robinson getting an interception and Keldric Faulk getting another sack.   LOCKED ON TITANS EVERYDAY CLUB: https://lockedontitans.supercast.com/   Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans   TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop...   Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans   Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod   Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LockedOnTitans   Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel.Visithttps://FANDUEL.COMto get started now. Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cam Ward bounced back after a rough start to Tennessee Titans practice on Tuesday. I'll tell you what happened. Plus, tell you why the conversation around Cam Ward right now is totally missing the mark on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans on today's show. I'm going to break down everything that you need to know from Tennessee Titans OTAs on Tuesday.

We're going to talk about how the Titans' top young rookie defenders continue to make plays. We'll give an update on Cornell Tate's injury status and why it actually had a positive domino effect on the rest of the Titans receivers. But we got to start with Cam Ward. not only his practice performance on Tuesday, but the entire conversation around Cam Ward right now, which again, I think is completely missing the mark.

Cam Ward had a rough start to practice on Tuesday. He had a good bounce back at the end, and we'll go through all the individual plays that make it a rough start into a good bounce back. But Cam Ward didn't have a incredible performance on Monday either. And, you know, the dumbest person that you know right now is calling Cam Ward, to bust and, oh, these aren't perfect practices, and is he progressing? Cam Ward doesn't look this much better than, and it's all nonsense.

It's all complete nonsense. This is literally the time of year where a quarterback should experiment, where they should make mistakes, where they should fail, they should grow, they should learn. That is universal for any quarterback at any age, that during the off season is where you really test things. where you really get your answers. You are in the lab.

Everybody wants to use the phrase in the lab until it's time to get in the lab. Okay. Cam Ward is in the lab right now figuring things out. And it's just hilarious to me that, you know, if you went in halfway through your mom's baking a cake, your mom is baking your birthday cake, and you pulled the cake out of the oven halfway through, grabbed a big spoon, took a bite and said,

mom, this cake sucks. It's undercooked. Well, yeah, you took it out halfway through before it was done in the oven. Of course, it doesn't taste good right now. People trying to act like who Cam Ward is right now is the finished product. It's all it can be too bad OTAs.

Not even bad. Not even bad. Not even bad. Shout up my guy Jim Wyatt from Tennessee Titans.com who literally put in his observations. Can Cam Ward? Can can, can't, can't, can. Can Cam Ward be better? Yes.

Has Cam Ward been bad during OTAs? No. That is literally a quote from Jim's observation on Tuesday. People are trying to sensationalize. Cam Ward going through the growth process of the all season. Aaron Rogers himself has said that, yeah, he'll get intercepted during OTAs in the summer and training camp. He'll do it on purpose because he just wants to test.

Can I get this ball in? Can I fit it in this window? What about this depth? I see the defense this way. We talked about the option routes in this offense that the wide receiver has to read the leverage of the defender and make a decision on where they want to take their route.

The quarterback has to read it at the same time. You're not just going to know that immediately. You're not just going to immediately be on the same page, everything perfect. No, like, I just feel like, again, I have overarching thoughts about like society that there are just so many people out there who have never, like, fought for anything. They've never worked for anything that took struggle. They've never fought through adversity. Like, do people not understand all the failure that it takes to become great at anything?

Like, I think a lot of people who have never even tried to be great. They've never even aspired to feel greatness. Laugh at people who go through failure on their way. Like, oh, look, Cam had a bad old camp through a bubba. It's a bunch of people who have never worked hard for anything in their life. They don't know what it takes to get to greatness. They don't understand that most of the great people that you've ever seen in any industry failed their way there because you learn from those things.

So with Cam Ward is having miscommunication. with Wondale Robinson in practice, or he's throwing it deep and the wide receivers stopping short, or he's throwing it to a quick out and the wide receiver keeps going up field. Those are the miscommunications that will make Cam Ward great, that will have the Titans wide receivers on the same page. Not now, during the season. Now is when you bake the cake so that it tastes good when you play the game.

So using a couple of OTAs in the middle of the summer to grandstand and say that Cam Ward is a bust, it's absurd. It's absurd is what it is. It's like, anyways, that's my overarching point of why are we looking at each individual practice of today is a new referendum on Cam Ward's future?

It totally misses the point of what this time of year is all about. So, anyway, with that, again, it doesn't, saying that, it's not excusing Cam Ward's flight. Could Cam Ward be better? Sure. Did he have a rough start to Tuesday's practice

that included an interception to Michael Robinson, misses to Wondale Robinson, miscommunications with his wide receivers and where to be. Another almost interception is Sunusi Kane, a batted pass, by Anthony Hill, Cody Barton, but it also included an incredible layered throw on the sideline to Chim Dekay after a PBU, a direct response. Also, a strike over the middle of the field to KJ Osborne.

Also, at the end of practice, a 27-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone to Xavier Restrepo in a red zone shot drill. a fade touchdown in the same drill to Elyle-I-O-Manor in the back of the corner of the end zone. Could have had another touchdown as well earlier in the practice but was ruled out of bounds or something like that which has happened a couple of days in a row. Cam is fine. He needs this time to grow. He's not a perfect player.

This is literally what this time of year is all about. So, again, I roll my mind. eyes at anybody trying to act like, you know, Cam Ward's ups and downs during summer practices mean that he's a bum, he's a bust, he's that I just roll my eyes immediately. It totally misunderstands not only this time of year in the NFL, but the process of greatness and what is required along that path. Like, what are we doing? So, yeah, up and down practice for Cam Ward where he didn't start out very strong, but then finished very strong.

And quite frankly, and I forget what it said, who it was, I saw somebody say, you know, Cam Ward's good at bouncing back, but he's got to stop having to bounce back. I understand the general philosophy of don't make mistakes that you have to overcome, but that's not real life.

Tom Brady threw picks. Patrick Mahomes throws picks. Josh Allen, in his last game of the year literally fumbled a football right before halftime and gave the Broncos three free points for nothing. Massive mistake.

Cam Ward is never going to be able to be in a position and neither are you. Welcome to life on earth. You have to have the ability to bounce back. And yes, it would be great to say well, you shouldn't have to bounce back as much. Just don't get down or don't have to... But that's not how it goes in real life.

And that's not how it goes for the best players in the world. In any sport, in any capacity, your ability to bounce back from things and collect yourself when bad things happen and push forward, that is the number one skill any human being can have in the entire freaking world.

So I'm not going to tell Cam Ward to not bounce. Look, there are always going to be problems. He's never going to be perfect. So I love Cam Ward's ability to forget my mistake. stake, keep pushing forward, continue to make plays, showed it in this practice, showed it to us last year. And with that type of mentality, that type of talent, giving him the time to grow that he deserves, there's just no reason to have these conversations about Cam Ward right now. It's just not necessary. But with that in mind,

Cam Ward is not the only quarterback we're going to talk about today because Will Levis had an absolute bounce back himself, had a fantastic day. I'll give Will Levis his credit during the show, but now we've got to talk about the Cornell Tate injury news. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Indeed, workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing in the one position that you have to fill still sitting open. When the pressure's on, you need the right hire.

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Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support my show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast terms of conditions apply. Need to hire. That's a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. Let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Recapping Tennessee Titans OTAs on Tuesday. Again, Cam Ward had a bounce back after a rough start.

But the conversation around Cam Ward right now totally missing the mark. and that's the more important point at this time of year. But do want to talk about the Cornell Tate injury situation because Cardinal Tate was not at practice on Tuesday. I'm going to give you guys an update, but I'll tell you this. It's more positive than negative. Now, before I dive in, though, do want to thank you for making a locked on Titan jort first listen each and every day.

Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribe, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. every day. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. Tomorrow, we're going to kind of recap everything that's happened throughout OTA so far and some of the storylines we need to pay attention to going forward. Thursday, the Titans are back out there for practice. So make sure that you're back with me here at Locked on Titans. Stay locked in with the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world Locked on Titans.

But with that being said, Cornell Tate got a little bruise, quote unquote, little bruise. and a tweet that's now been deleted, by the way. But I saw it, and it came from a Titans Beat reporter. I'm sure the team didn't want any specifics out there because this time of year, specifics are not required, but I saw it, and you can't tell me that I didn't. It was quote-unquote, a little bruise

that happened from Carnell Tate's 50-yard touchdown catch at Monday's OTAs. Nick Suss from the Tennyson is reporting that it's nothing major, just precautionary. maybe back out there on Thursday, as a matter of fact. But if not, the expectation is that he will be out there for mandatory minicamp next week. So not a big deal, not a problem, nothing to worry about, nothing to see here. Nobody freak out.

But I get it, man. I saw Carnotate, not at practice, there's this before we saw some tweets and some updates as like timeline. Like, it's going to be fine. He's going to be back at practice Thursday, that stuff. I'm like, here we go, man. Dude's bawling out, having one of the best starts. to a Titans career we've seen from a rookie

in a while from a summer perspective. I know games haven't been played. But you guys know how it's been with first-round picks and wide receivers and stuff like that for Titans fans. Never starts good, never ends good. So even a good start I'm going to be happy about. But of course, Carnal Tate's having a great start,

looking like a stud, blah, blah, blah, now he's going to get hurt. He was never hurt. Now he's got... But it's fine. It's perfectly fine. Again, cautionary, little bruise. going to be back out there on Thursday, if not, back out there for mandatory minicamp.

So, no need to be concerned. But it did create opportunities for other Titans wide receivers. Chim Dike went nuts. Everybody was going crazy about the 60-yard touchdown. He caught an out and up down the sideline, 60-yard bomb from Will Levis.

We'll talk about Will Levis, who, you know, deserves his credit for a good practice. And I'll give him his credit, too. but Chim D.K. 2 to 3 touchdown catches. Multiple catches from Mitch Trubisky had a beautiful catch on the sideline from Cam Ward.

I have talked about it. I will continue talking about it. Chim D.K. has a chance to change fundamentally how we see the wide receiver group. If Chim DK takes a step forward this year to be a bona fide number two wide receiver, and you have Chim DK as the Z,

Carnell Tate as the X. Wondell Robinson is your slot. That's a good group. And in that realm, you could trade Calvin Ridley. You don't have to ask Calvin Ridley to do as much as a 31-year-old veteran. There are a lot of, and D.K. can be your number two, wide receiver moving forward.

Like, if he could take a big step up this year in that role, that would be great. And it sounds like he started OTAs a little late. remember him, I. O. Ridley didn't participate at first. But it sounds like he's making big plays and that's with Trubisky, with Cam Ward, with Levis. It doesn't matter.

D.K.'s getting open. He's catching the ball. He's burning people. D.K. is one of those X-factor players for the Titans this year where if he takes a big-time leap and becomes a player that we're not expecting him to be, massive, massive return for the Titans, if that's the case.

The next wide receiver that we have to talk about, Xavier Restrepo. It was a slow start. Remember, Xavier Restrepo, the Titans made him participate in that rookie minicamp tryout as a second year player. Last year, barely got any opportunities. We know he's not going to be help on special teams.

He's not going to be a returner. He's not going to be a coverage guy. So it's going to be hard for Xavier Restrepo. And again, being in that rookie minicamp, not a good sign for his roster security. So I admit, I am admitting, I have been down on Xavier Restrepo with KJ Osborne, Osborne looking good,

Bryce Oliver looking good, DK, I.O. Redley, getting back, Carnot, taking a step forward. Where does Xavier Restrepo fit in to all, that. As a guy who can't play special teams. Well, apparently my thought of where Xavier Restrepo was at and where Xavier Restrepo has put himself over the last couple of weeks, or not the same thing. Jim Wyatt said that Xavier Restrepo had five catches in practice on Tuesday and that over the

OTAs that have been open to the media, Wyatt has Xavier Ostrepo with the most catches of any wide receiver in Titans camp. 14. And not only that, but I saw an interesting comment from my guide to Ron Davenport. TD covers the Titans for ESPN. Shout out TD. But he does his observations after practice.

And he said, Xavier Restrepo with back-to-back receptions. His quickness, shiftingness is intriguing in Dable's offense. I saw, and I forget where it came from, but I saw another thing that said, Xavier Restrepo has basically, you know, showed well directly behind Wondell Robinson

and that slot roll for the Titans. Maybe, maybe, Brian Dable's offense that has more option routes that uses the slot-wide receiver a little bit in different ways. Maybe Xavier Restrepo is a better fit in the slot in Dable's offense than he was Callahan's offense.

Because remember, Brian Dable's offense is a version of the New England Patriots offense. Think Wes Welker, Danny Amandola, Julian Edelman. Think that type of guy. So if that type of player, who all of those guys, weren't the most athletic, especially a guy like Welker,

wasn't the biggest, wasn't the most athletic, but as an incredibly smart, we talked about the option routes earlier in the episode when we were talking about Cam Ward. But you have to have a smart wide receiver who can read the defense properly too. So if you have a guy who may not be the biggest, may not be the fastest,

but incredibly sure-handed, incredibly smart, great chemistry with your quarterback, option routes that utilize his best skill set, his understanding. might just be enough to push Xavier Restrepo onto this football team. Again, I'm still not going to have him making the team. The special teams thing, KJ Osborne can do those things and, you know,

I am not willing to say, oh, I was wrong, Xavier Restrepo is going to make the team. But he has a lot better chance of making it right now than he did a couple of weeks ago because he's had a couple of good weeks of practice. and that is what you, because I want Xavier Restrepo to work. I want Xavier Restrepo to be that end of the debt chart, you know, chain moving, safety, security blanket for Cam Ward. That's all we've ever wanted, right? Nobody thought that Xavier Restrepo was going to turn into a superstar.

I just wanted him to be somebody who can help. Fun story, good guy to root for, Cam Ward's buddy, his sidekick. Like, there's so many fun storylines. And again, I always always. remind you. In my opinion, being a football fan is not just watching a game for three hours every Sunday in the fall. It's all of it. It's the full experience. The players, the coaches, other fans, the transactions, the news, the reports, everything is part of being, the conversations at

the bar with your buddies talking football. Like, it's all part of being a fan and enjoying NFL football. So for story purposes, I won't save your Ostrepo to make it. So let's hope that that continues. Do you want to mention a couple other people on offense to Elic Ayo Manor. Again, like Chimdeka, wasn't full go at OTAs early,

but had the fade touchdown. But I want to say this. I also saw multiple people report that Key Drain Calligan knocked a couple passes away from Elico Manor that came from Cam Ward. And I just want to remind you that Elic Ayo Manor

is going to have to be a contested catch winner to have a career in the NFL. He's not a good enough route runner or an explosive enough athlete to win other ways. He has to win with his physicality, his big body, and win contested catch situations. I just don't think that Key Drain Calligan

should be getting the better of him multiple times in practice. He wouldn't be getting the better of Cornell Tate. So there's levels, as the kids like to say. The last offensive note that I have for you, once again came from Jim Wyatt. He said he's been impressed with Nick Singleton and that Nick Singleton has gotten more work as of late. Of course, he came back from the foot injury,

but rookie running back out of Penn State, I'm telling you, guys, telling you. I think there's a real chance that by the end of the season, we look at Nick Singleton as the best running back on the team. He's more explosive, younger than Tony Pollard, can catch the ball out of the backfield, block and pass protection,

just like Tad J Spears is good at. I think Nick Singleton might be Tony Pollard, Tad Jage Spears mixture. So let's hope that that's the case. But with that being said, we do got to move to the defensive side of the ball where again, the Titans young, top rookies

continue to stand out. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the the Locked-on Titans podcast. Breaking down, Tennessee Titans OTAs from Tuesday. Cam Ward had a rough start, bounce back, but the conversation has yet to bounce back around Cam Ward, and it needs to.

Carnotate injury update, not that bad. Nobody worry. Actually, might have been a positive for the Titans on Tuesday to let some of the other lower wide receivers get a little bit more work. But now I want to talk about the defensive side of the ball. And again, the top defensive rookies for the Titans continue to make plays. Before I get into it, do want to thank you. for making the Locked on Titans

your first listen each and every day speaking of every day you guys got to join the Locked on Titans Every Day or club hit the link down below in the description you'll get commercial free versions of the podcast you'll get added to a Locked on Titans

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Keldrick Folk got another would-be sack Now, we're going to talk about attendance here in just a second and the Titans 2 starting offensive tackles. We're not at practice on Tuesday. So, of course, you could immediately say, oh, well, he wasn't going to, I don't care about any of that. Kaltrick Falk twice now in what?

We've had four open OTAs over the last couple of weeks. And two of them, Keldrick Falk's gotten a sack. And I will remind folks, He played in a two-gap system in college in Auburn where he was responsible for two different gaps. He could not just shoot up the field and be aggressive and use his length and his get-off and his speed. I saw some folks talking about his get-off.

I think it might have been my guy Brad Hopkins in the squad show earlier but the way Keldrick Falk is able to fire off the ball for a guy his size, man. It's crazy to watch. It's crazy to watch. So Keldrick Falk continues. to flash in these practices. And if he can make a bigger impact in year one

than what I'm projecting for him, could be a big boost to the Titans' defensive line. And honestly, that's what you're hoping for when it's a first-round rookie. Come out and be dominant, be awesome, make plays. And with what the Titans need on the edge, there is a big opportunity for Keldrick folk to come in right away

and make those plays. So, do want to also mention the other top defensive rookie. Anthony Hill. Something that my guy Brad Hopkins said on the squad show on Tuesday is Anthony Hill was out there on Monday's practice calling the defense. Green dot linebacker calling the defense, making the calls, making the checks.

Already. Already. I told you, and I believe it, 100%, that, Anthony Hill starting for the Titans is truly all mental. If he can be mentally capable right away of wearing the green dot, calling the defense, he's going to start.

Because his skill set is so much more in line with what Robert Solow wants at linebacker than Cody Barton's. Cody Barton is the antithesis of what Robert Sala wants at linebacker. He is the opposite. Anthony Hill is, they told us when they drafted him, the prototype linebacker for Robert Sala's scheme and system. So he's got the physical ability, he's a perfect fit in the defense,

and he can be mentally ready with the playbook and his teammates and the adjustments and reading the offense, making the checks and all that hard stuff. If he could be ahead of the game on that, Anthony Hill is going to start. He's going to start. I feel like that's the case. I've said that.

I have said, I think that Anthony Hill will be the most impactful rookie. Now, I'm going to be wrong about that because it's going to be Cornell Tate. And I'm happy to be wrong about that because that's good news for the Titans. But the reason I said that was, because I just have great confidence

that Anthony Hill is going to be good. And he's going to make an impact early on. He's going to start right away. I just, I feel very confident in Anthony Hill. And that's what kind of led me to that belief. Now, shout out Micah Robinson. Michael Robinson has been getting just destroyed by Carnell Tate for weeks and weeks and weeks.

All of the highlights. every time there's a new Carnell Tate big play, it's on poor Micah Robinson. Well, with no Cornell Tate in practice today, Michael Robinson got an interception. Revenge. Good for Michael Robinson, who may not be as bad of a player

as everybody thinks that he is right now. Maybe Carnell Tate is just that good. Maybe Michael Robinson is a little bit better than we thought. Cornell Tate's just bad, good. That's what I'm hoping for. Anyway, Marcus Harris blitzed off the slot and got a sack in this practice. practice, he's the slot.

They just, they just don't have anybody to compete with him at all. He's the starting slot. End of story. And then do want to rattle off the roll call, the attendants. No John Franklin Myers, no Big Jeff. No hooker, no Taylor, no flot. No more, no Latham, no Femi. And then again, no Tate, which we talked about earlier.

I have thoughts. I have thoughts about more Latham, Femi. the guy's in the secondary. Alante Taylor, Cordell Flot haven't been in a practice yet, and the Titans gave them a combined $100 million. So that doesn't make me feel good.

I know it's only OTAs and stuff, but like, they better be there next week. That's all I know about that. But with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was locked on Titan.

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