Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cam Ward named BREAKOUT STAR & ELITE LEADERSHIP on Display at Summer Workouts

Starting point is 00:00:00 I think Cam Ward's leadership is as impressive as his armed talent. And if you don't think so, I think you're a loser. I'll tell you why 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. Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Game Time.

Starting point is 00:00:38 Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code Locked On for $20 off your first purchase. On today's show, we are going to talk about the two men who are going to save this franchise. Robert Sala and Cam Ward. Alante Taylor, Tennessee Titans cornerback just had a lot to say about Robert Sala that I want to discuss that paints him in a pretty positive picture as not only a coach, but a recruiter. as well. Also want to talk about all of the different wide receivers and weapons who we now know we're at the Titan summer workouts and why that's another example of Cam Ward's leadership, which is in the conversation now based on how he acted after the game against the Cleveland

Starting point is 00:01:21 Browns, the Netflix series and all that. And it comes down to something very simple for me. If you don't like the way that Cam Ward leads, I think you're a loser. It's that cut and draw. harsh as it may be, I do not care. That is how I feel. And there are a couple of different things here that just kind of frustrate me. You know, the Titans win against Cleveland. And if you remember, when that happened,

Starting point is 00:01:50 we knew that there was something that happened. One of the Titans local radio hosts got suspended from the team playing for sharing a story about Arden Key going on the intercom system saying, don't listen to Cam, celebrate the win. blah, blah, blah, blah, and at that time, I said the exact thing I'm saying to you now. Arden Key is a loser. That's a loser's mentality.

Starting point is 00:02:14 Hey, we won, so everything's good. That is a loser's mentality, especially the way that they finished that fourth quarter in Cleveland. That was unacceptable. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin, had a phrase throughout his career there that a lot of people started to roll their eyes at by the time that he was done. But it's, the standard is the standard.

Starting point is 00:02:40 And just because we won doesn't mean that we can be accepting of below standard. And in my opinion, if Cam Ward went to the Eagles, the Patriots, the Chiefs, the Cowboys, then maybe he wouldn't have to have this mentality. But to save the Tennessee Titans,

Starting point is 00:03:04 one of the lowest rated franchises in the NFL with the least amount of good history and superstars and the Titans are like in college football they have prestige rankings for schools the Titans are one of the lowest prestige franchises in the NFL and to get the Titans out of not only where they are as a franchise but where they currently sit as a team

Starting point is 00:03:31 back-to-back three-win seasons 11 wins in their last 56 games, 58 games, something like that, not a athlete. To get the Titans out of the desperate hole that they are in right now, you are going to need someone with Cam Ward's mentality. With, this is not good enough. I don't care if we won. This is not good enough. And I will tell you this, for me personally,

Starting point is 00:04:00 Cam Ward is a child of the Mamba mentality, the ferocious, obsessive, psychotic, work ethic mindset of Kobe Bryant. A child of the Mamba mentality, which quite frankly, I subscribe to myself. You could see the book, the other side. I've talked about Kobe Bryant, my first dog, R-I-P. Kobe, named Kobe, I have approached my life, in my opinion, with a mamba mentality

Starting point is 00:04:41 of always striving for perfection, even if it's unattainable, of doing your absolute best at all time and working as hard as you possibly can at every single moment, never being accepting of less than what you know is your best. And the fact that there are people online, criticizing Cam Ward for having that mindset. The fact that there were Arden Keys in the locker room who didn't understand Cam's mindset, get them out. Losing mindset.

Starting point is 00:05:15 Losing mindset. And listen, you can wear on people with a mindset like Cam. I know it myself. That constant has got to be better. It's got to be. Every single dinner that I eat, every dinner that I make,

Starting point is 00:05:32 I criticize after I'm done. It could be delicious. It could be better than any meal that I've ever had at any other place, but I'm going to say, I could have added some parsley. Maybe a squeeze of lime juice. Ah, if I would have took the temperature down,

Starting point is 00:05:49 just a little bit more and cooked just a little longer. Oh, if I would have seared before the braise. You know, all these little different things. and you know my girls sometimes will be like it was great what are you talking about it was delicious yeah it was delicious but it could be better and everything in my being is how can I make this better that's what my mind does at all times that's probably why I'm good at doing this show because I look at the Titans and I say how could it be better that sort of constant critical mindset in pursuit of greatness some people find off pudding and quite frankly I think

Starting point is 00:06:29 it's loser mentality. I don't think there's anything wrong with being obsessively driven for greatness. And quite frankly, it is required to be the quarterback that we need Cam Ward to be. It is required. And quite honestly, it's that leadership, in my opinion,

Starting point is 00:06:53 more than the armed talent that is going to get Cam Ward to break out this year. Be the guy we need. It's the leadership. How he leads the franchise. How he gets the guys to do what he needs them to do and for them to want to do it. I read a quote one time that said leadership is getting other people to do what you want them to do with them wanting to do it. That's what a leader is. A boss is somebody who makes you do something. A leader is somebody who inspires you to do something. That is the difference. And Cam Ward can't just tell guys what to do.

Starting point is 00:07:32 He has to live in that truth. You can't be a religious leader and be sinning all the time. You know, like what? You got to follow your own word in some way. So Cam Ward's leadership, not the on talent. The own talent is incredible, but everybody has armed talent. Can everybody be the leader that Cam Ward is? I don't think so.

Starting point is 00:07:55 And pro football focus, just named Cam Ward, the quarterback for their all breakout team in 2026. And again, it's the leadership that's going to earn him that spot on the list after the season's over. Yeah, I think Cam Ward is going to break out this year. I agree. Pro football focus. Good job.

Starting point is 00:08:18 I agree. But to earn that spot, to earn that moniker, to actually break out, it's going to be because he's such a good leader. because a lot of people have armed talent. A lot of people have armed talent. We got a guy on the team right now has probably got better armed talent than Cam Ward and Will Levis.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Levis can throw the ball harder, further, faster, you know, not as accurate, not as precise. The touch throws, this and that. Although Cam Ward needs to work on those two. It's no guarantee. He likes to throw it fast. But the point is, what is going to separate Cam Ward

Starting point is 00:08:59 from other quarterbacks in the line? league isn't going to be armed talent. It's going to be his leadership, getting the guys on the same page, getting his teammates to buy in, getting everybody to fight for the same cause and row in the same direction. Those are the things that make Cam Ward special. And hearing people talk about the leadership and all that different stuff and all these stories. It just, it gets you fired up. It gets you fired up because you realize he's capable. And again, love that he's on that breakout team, but the reason for it will be the things that we've talked about, not necessarily just he could throw the ball well,

Starting point is 00:09:30 which he certainly can do. But again, another part of the leadership has been what he's done this summer. And we've talked about it being a perfect summer for Cam Ward from a leadership perspective. We talked about the summer workouts, but now we got a video from Cam Ward's YouTube account more in-depth behind the scenes of those workouts.

Starting point is 00:09:54 Really awesome video. I encourage you to watch it. I'm going to be reacting live to that video on Monday on the Titan Sleeper podcast account here on YouTube. So check that out if you want to check out that video as I react to it, not just watch it yourself. But we saw a lot more of who was at that throwing session. I'm going to break it down and talk about how each individual guy is set up

Starting point is 00:10:13 to really make an impact with Cam Ward. Do want to let you know that support for today's episode comes from Warby Parker. If you're active, you know not all sunglasses are built the same, whether you're running, golfing, hiking, coaching, or spending a lot of time outdoors, regular sunglasses can slip, bounce, fog up, or make it harder to see clearly when you're moving. Warby Parker Sport was designed to solve those problems

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Starting point is 00:11:25 around outside and sweating. So that is the key feature in my opinion. But I wear that's made to move with you right now by one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional payers at Warby Parker.com slash locked on NFL. That's 20% off any additional pairs when you purchase one pair at W-A-R-B-Y Parker.com slash locked on NFL. Today's episode is also brought to you by game time. There are more live events than ever worth seeing right now with games, concerts, comedy shows, festivals. The hard part usually is deciding what you want to attend. It's actually getting the tickets. Between long wait times, confusing checkout processes, surprise fees, buying tickets can sometimes feel harder than it should.

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Starting point is 00:12:43 Again, create an account, redeem the code L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Again, we're talking about Cam Ward's elite leaders. We're going to talk about how that leadership manifested in their summer workouts as we kind of have a full picture of all the people who were involved with the summer throwing session down in Miami. But we're going to talk about Robert Sala later in the show

Starting point is 00:13:29 because Alante Taylor had some awesome comments about Robert Sala. And I think we haven't talked enough about the schematic impact that Robert Sala is going to have on this team. We've talked about it, but it's understated. So I want to talk about that. But first, I do want to thank you for making Locked on Titan's your first, listen each and every day. Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round. Always for free.

Starting point is 00:13:52 Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. But at the summer throwing session, Cornell Tate was obviously there. We knew that. I had identified Gunnar Helm, Elycheo Manor, Xavier Restrepo. We had also seen Wondale Robinson

Starting point is 00:14:15 in separate videos, but same field, similar outfit, figured, yep, that had to be Wondale, he was there. So that's five. And now we know Jim D.K. was there. Daniel Bellinger was there. K.J. Osborne was there.

Starting point is 00:14:41 Bryce Oliver was there. And there may have been more. There may have been more. But that's who I saw, who I recognized from the video and let me just say Bryce Oliver is pretty funny. He had a lot of things to say he was pretty funny. But again, Cam getting that many guys, that big of attendance. I mean, that is a massive amount of the skill group that he could realistically be throwing to this year. I mean, even KJ. Osborne and Bryce Oliver are out there. Daniel Bellinger came, who's not even a

Starting point is 00:15:17 young player like, you know, Gummer Helm and Cam came in together. I could see why That would be a guarantee, but belly getting out there. And he looks strong, man. He looks strong. But again, it just, it underscores Cam Ward's leadership and how people love Cam. People want to do things with Cam. He's the guy, you know,

Starting point is 00:15:38 they're not going to skip his birthday party to throw a draft day reference in there. Bo Callahan getting his birthday skipped by his teammates. Like, that's not going to be a thing with Cam Ward. And I think that it's a small thing. certainly, but the attendance that you saw at those summer workouts, that just kind of tells you all you need about how bought in everybody is to get this thing going. And Cam's been doing other stuff too.

Starting point is 00:16:08 Did a little thing on a podcast at a football event. I saw Cam Newton reacting to one of his play calls talking about how it was just too long, you know, and the offenses need to simplify. You know, Cam just seems to be a summer start. right now with the Netflix thing going on and everybody getting kind of an idea. Every single person that I've seen talk about Cam on the Netflix thing says, oh my God, he's so likable.

Starting point is 00:16:37 Even Stillman said he finds Cam incredibly likable, even though he hates on him all day long. So Cam watching, I saw somebody making fun of Cam because he watches tape with a keyboard, like literally a whole keyboard. they have like a cowboy clicker type thing that you would think that an NFL quarterback could get his hands on that would make it simpler for him to watch film then holding the key, literally holding a keyboard in his hand

Starting point is 00:17:03 like it's a television remote. But Cam's like, I've had to watch so much film because I didn't know how to watch film when I got to college. And he is like breaking down tape. Like again, it goes back to the Mamba qualities that we talked about. Cam is such a big Kobe guy too. And it's just clear in his approach that like even the way that he was talking to those kids at the camp that he did for Under Armour.

Starting point is 00:17:26 He's like, no water breaks. No, you've got to do it better. But, like, he is not in it for the funsies. Like, Cam is here to take it all, you know? He is going to work as hard as he possibly can. And that's why I'm so bullish on Cam, because his work ethic exceeds his talent.

Starting point is 00:17:47 And when you're as talented as Cam Ward is and your work ethic exceeds your talent, you're going places because that's a deadly combination. It's exactly what you want. But Carnell Tate out there, we know what we need to see from Cornell Tate, alpha wide receiver. And you see that little video that he released on social media?

Starting point is 00:18:07 If not, you got to go find it. I mean, aura, as the kids would say, I'm an old school guy. I like Moxie. He's got a lot of moxie. You know what I mean? So,

Starting point is 00:18:18 Cornell Tate got a lot of moxy, brother. I think that having a guy like Carnal Tate, who actually has wide receiver one vibes to him, will make everybody else on the team feel better. It will inspire the rest of the team. And Cornel Tate, he looks the part. That's what I'll say. He looks the part.

Starting point is 00:18:38 And boy, he does look good in the Titans new uniform. That's all I know about that. Wondale Robinson was there. I think he's going to get more vertical than people realize, folks. I know he's an underneath slot guy. We think about, you know, option routes, choice routes, quick stuff moving the chains, but some of the vertical routes they were practicing.

Starting point is 00:18:55 He got vertical last year, as yards per catch, were higher than they've ever been. So I think we're going to see Wondell get vertical. Having Chim out there, I saw pro football focus. They get it right with Cam, but then they come back and say that Calvin Ridley

Starting point is 00:19:09 is the Titans top target this year. Dude, no, he is not. They want Calvin to have a good year and stay healthy and be an impact, but he has not their top target. You might not even be in the top three by the end of the season. Might not be in the top four by the end of the season. Tate, Helm, Robinson, and D.K.

Starting point is 00:19:29 Could be the top four target getters on the team, and I would not have a problem with that. I really do think that Jim D.K. has a chance to overtake Calvin Ridley, period, anyways. Like, that's on the table. If D.K. develops enough. DK. had nearly 500 receiving yards. If he gets more opportunities, he gets a 6, 7, 8.

Starting point is 00:19:47 How many yards do we think Calvin Ridley is getting this year? So, D.K. is going to be right there. I.O. Manor continuing to get better with his route running. He just looks amazing. But it's a big year for Iow Manor. I think that his role and his place and how he's viewed in the NFL is on the line. Because if the drops continue, D.K. Progresses.

Starting point is 00:20:12 Ridley's still there. He could lose a lot of opportunities very quick. Helm, you guys know how I feel about Gunner Helm. he's about to break out. He's going to be great this year. Love Bellinger out there, getting all of the dirty work in for the Titans. It's incredible. I love that he made it out there. Again, some of the lower depth chart guys, Osborne, Restrepo, Bryce Oliver. They simply cannot afford.

Starting point is 00:20:37 If one of them is there, they can't afford for the other ones not to be there. Because they're all fighting with each other. So keep fighting. That roster bubble for wide receiver, going to be so incredible to watch. We've talked enough about Cam. I want to talk about the other man who holds our happiness in his hand for the next 10 months.

Starting point is 00:20:59 And that's Robert Salah. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by Udo. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. You got one app for accounting. You got another app for inventory. You got another for sales.

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Starting point is 00:22:12 Titans fans. Let's cap off today's edition of the Locked-on Titans podcast. Again, we're talking about everything that basically happened over the weekend that showed exactly the kind of leader that came Sam Ward's going to be the conversation around his leadership, all of that. But now I want to switch gears and talk about Robert Sala. Because I saw some comments from Titans' new cornerback, Alante Taylor over the weekend that I found incredibly, incredibly interesting.

Starting point is 00:22:51 And they paint a great picture of Robert Sala, which, again, I think is under-discussed right now. So Alante Taylor said, I had always heard about Coach Sala, about his players, the success rate, and seeing guys succeed under him. So I always said that's a coach I want to play for one day. He was, I would say, a big, big reason why I went there.

Starting point is 00:23:20 So a couple of different things that we have to take from that. Number one, Robert Sala's defense is so good. and his success is so good with defensive guys, especially outside cornerbacks. He makes it real easy on the outside cornerbacks to just play physical football. His history of defensive success and what he does for individual defensive players. Two things. Is one, based on real football. Because Robert Salah's defenses are so good.

Starting point is 00:24:03 It's not like Robert Sala has a bunch of great defensive players and his defenses are trash. Last year, he had a mass unit and the defense was good. They couldn't get a sack to save their life because of all the injuries and the defense was good. So the most important part of that comment for Titans fans is that Robert Sala is going to make this defense incredible, incredible.

Starting point is 00:24:33 That is why I've said throughout, I expect the defense to be the foundation of the team. Robert Sala is the coach. The defensive line is the most talented position group the Titans have. Second's probably wide receiver. Isn't that crazy? Awesome.

Starting point is 00:24:49 But Alante Taylor wanted to come to Tennessee partly because Robert Sala's defense is going to be awesome. And we need to keep that in our mind as we get optimistic for this season. Yeah, I have concerns about, the O-line, about the talent level of the roster in general, whether they're ready to compete, how guys fit in the system, how guys take to the system, Camp Ward's development, you know, the second of the young players are going to step. There are a lot of questions here, okay?

Starting point is 00:25:18 But a major source of the optimism that we feel needs to be coming from, Robert Solas is a defensive savant. He's a defensive mastermind. And he's going to continue to call plays and call his defense and be that defensive mastermind that's been running good defenses for half of a decade in the NFL longer. So that's one big part of it is just the reality that Alante Taylor feels that way because Robert Salah's defenses are awesome.

Starting point is 00:25:51 And then, two, the recruiting aspect. The recruiting aspect of how many players will Robert Salah get to come to, Tennessee because of what Alante Taylor just pointed out. How many, and he's not even talking about talking to Robert Sala. Robert Sala fires guys up. Football players love Robert Sala because he's just an intense, passionate, focused on the goal guy who's also likable and enjoyable and a regular dude.

Starting point is 00:26:28 You know? So, whether it be the reality that Alante Taylor knows that Robert Sala's defense are great, or the recruiting aspect of that saying, hey, a big reason why I came here is because of Robert Salah. The reality of why Robert Salah can recruit good is the defense, and then the recruitment itself is also the secondary part. Both of those things together, where are you getting that from any other coach that was hired? Stafansky doesn't have pool like that with players. Harbaal probably might. You know, players would go play for John Harbaugh, but after his time finished with the Ravens.

Starting point is 00:27:10 He runs guys into the ground and practice and makes them practice real hard and all that. I don't know. Robert Sala, not saying Robert Sala isn't going to work the guys hard enough. He will. But I'm just saying I don't know that John Harbaugh is revered from players or liked from players as much as Sala is

Starting point is 00:27:27 without the Super Bowl and things like just pure light, you know? We know Clint Kubiak and Todd Malkin ain't pulling like that. So I'm just saying I think Robert Sala could be the gem of this hiring cycle. And there are a lot of people out there who think so. And here in Alante Taylor say stuff like that, it's hard for me not to think that as well. And when you look at Cam Ward's leadership,

Starting point is 00:27:52 which we talked about the first two segments, you look at Robert Sala, what he can do schematically on defense, and then his leadership qualities, how that can manifest in wins, recruiting, the vibe around the franchise, how they're perceived from the public view of things. I'm excited. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:28:12 I was excited to do this episode just to talk about Cam Ward, Robert Sala, good things, optimism. I'm hype. I'm ready. But training camp next week. Training camp next week. Crazy.

Starting point is 00:28:27 We almost made it, folks. But the defensive Locked on Titans training camp preview is going to happen this week. And we did the offense last week. So if you missed that, go ahead and go check it out. That's going to do it for me today, folks.

Starting point is 00:28:41 As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cam Ward named BREAKOUT STAR & ELITE LEADERSHIP on Display at Summer Workouts

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