Following a stagnant offensive performance against the Jets, Robert Saleh addresses Cam Ward’s development, citing a turbulent history of coaching turnover as the root of his struggles.
The Tennessee Titans had another disappointing outing from the offense on Sunday.
Cam Ward had 140 passing yards on 19-of-32 completions. The backfield struggled to find its footing and finished with 68 rushing yards. The team as a whole had under 200 yards of total offense.
Third downs were also an issue.
The Titans converted 4-of-12 third downs, which was more than the New York Jets did. The Jets went just 2-of-12 on third down conversions.
However, the Jets really didn't need third downs to move the chains. That much was certain just from watching the game unfold.
Sunday was an utter embarrassment. The Titans lost 23-10 to a team that felt like they should've been able to compete with.
The Jets are by no means world beaters. Geno Smith came in at the age of 35 and threw for 215 passing yards. He didn't even throw a touchdown pass.
The Titans weren't even able to sack him. Smith only had five incompletions on the day as a result.
There was concern about Ward's play during the game. The offensive line didn't give him much help, and he was running for his life for most of the game.
Then, when he did have a chance to throw, there were times when he would miss receivers or throw the ball into the dirt.
With the quarterback position, people will always have questions, whether it's after a win or a loss. Saleh wanted to stress at Monday's press conference that he was not shielding Ward from anything.
"I'm not trying to, what's the word I'm looking for?" Saleh said. "Shield the quarterback. So, try to bear with me on this. These kids come into this game. Just look at Cam, he's had seven different coordinators over the last seven years, you know? So, he's trying to build a foundation for him and we're trying to give him some stability, and we're trying to give him some things that are repetitive week after week after week without having to reset. So, his growth will happen throughout the year. His growth is going to happen next year and the year after."
Even going back to last year, Ward has not had much stability. He had half a season with head coach Brian Callahan before he was fired, and then had to learn under interim coach Mike McCoy.
Ward's offensive coordinator, Nick Holz, stuck around, but he was let go once Saleh was hired.
In his college days it was more of the same. Ward started out at Incarnate Word and then transferred to Washington State.
After a couple of years with Washington State, he left for Miami.
Realistically, Ward has never really had stability in his time in college and the NFL. Growth is going to be a long process for him, and Saleh is just trying to make things stable for him for once in his football journey.
