San Francisco's star linebacker encountered an unexpected edge during joint practices, discovering that Tennessee's rookie signal-caller isn't afraid to trigger elite defenders with relentless, high-stakes trash talk.
The Tennessee Titans had a fiery joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, to say the least.
There were multiple fights, and a couple of Titans players got thrown out of practice as a result. We could be in for a fun game on Thursday night with the 49ers, based on how practice went.
There's always going to be trash-talking back and forth between teams when they meet on the practice field or the football field. It is rare for quarterbacks to get involved in the jawing, but that's not the case for Cam Ward.
He's not afraid to try to get players off their game by talking down to them. This isn't something Fred Warner has seen much from quarterbacks.
Warner is familiar with Saleh from his time as the defensive coordinator of the 49ers, but he's just now getting to know the kind of competitor that Ward is. Warner wasn't healthy when the Titans played the 49ers last season, so this is his first introduction to the Titans quarterback.
Saleh and Warner first met when he joined the 49ers in 2018, and then were together again last season.
Warner mentioned how unique it is for a quarterback to participate in trash talk at the 49ers' media availability after practice.
Warner made sure to let everyone know that there was no beef between him and Ward, and that the trash-talking is just part of competition.
"Yeah, I mean it's all in good, fun competition," Warner said. "I think Cam is one of the unique quarterbacks where he's not afraid to sit there and play that game with you, you know, whether that's positive or negative, I think that's still yet to be seen on their side. We'll see. But for me, you know I'm always trying to get the quarterback out of his game, and anytime I'm in that mode, that's only going to amplify my game, right? So, I love joint practices, though. It's the best."
Certain players can definitely elevate their level of play when they start to jaw with other players on the field. Besides Ward, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield comes to mind after watching season three of Netflix's "Quarterback."
This is nothing new from Ward.
Even as a rookie, he hasn't been afraid to get into it verbally with some of the best players in the league, whether the Titans are winning or losing. In this case, Warner was one of the recipients.
Ward loves to trash talk, but his play can back it up. We've seen the highlight-level throws he can make under pressure. That's not going to be an issue.
The Titans just need to start winning more football games.
