NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The debut for rookie quarterback Cam Ward offered promise and room for improvement. For the Tennessee Titans' hopeful quarterback of the future, he was just excited to return to football.
Ward arrived at the Denver Broncos' stadium around six hours before kickoff Sunday, anxious to get started. He was one of the first players out on the field, stretching to start his warmup routine while a group of fans rehearsed how they would spread a huge American flag across the field during the national anthem.
The excitement was still there in his postgame news conference.
"I felt alive again," Ward said. "Just knowing that it's not a preseason game, it's a real football game. The rush that you get is unbelievable. It's something that you wouldn't want to trade for the world. I'm blessed to be in this position."
Despite Ward's outlook, his debut didn't quite go as he hoped. Like every quarterback not named Caleb Williams selected No. 1 since 2002, Ward lost his first start -- falling to the Broncos 20-12. Ward's 7.3 QBR was the second lowest (Jameis Winston, 6.4 in 2015) among quarterbacks selected No. 1 since the stat was first recorded in 2006.
The biggest lesson Ward learned was to get the ball out quicker to avoid sacks -- especially ones that knock his team out of scoring range. Ward was referring to the consecutive sacks he took after a muffed punt by Broncos returner Marvin Mims Jr. gave the Titans the ball at Denver's 24-yard line. Tennessee ended the drive with a punt after a combined 27 yards were lost on sacks.
Tennessee's defense forced three of Denver's four turnovers -- with the offense starting in Broncos' territory three times. The Titans' offense failed to capitalize, and Ward felt guilty for only coming away with six points.
But there were signs of promise from Ward in the loss. He completed 12 of 28 pass attempts for 112 yards against a Broncos secondary that boasts the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Pat Surtain II, and Titans coach Brian Callahan was encouraged by what he saw from Ward.
Ward's arm and playmaking ability were on display various times. Ward converted his first third-down opportunity by climbing the pocket and finding running back Tony Pollard in the flat while defenders tried to take him down for a sack.
On another play, Ward showed pinpoint accuracy on a throw -- despite the pass falling incomplete -- from the opposite hash mark to the sideline on a corner route to fellow rookie tight end Gunnar Helm. He connected with Helm for his first NFL catch on the next series when he drove the ball to the opposite sideline on a deep outbreaking route.
"I was really pleased with a lot of things that Cam did in the game," Callahan said Monday. "The operation and handling of the environment and his poise was really impressive."
Ironically, the thing that impressed Callahan the most didn't involve throwing the ball. Callahan was pleased with the check at the line of scrimmage that Ward made on the last play. Ward recognized a max pressure blitz that the Broncos had dialed up. The initial protection call in the huddle wouldn't have had enough blocking to take on the number of blitzers, so Ward reset it to one that would.
"There's plays that are called when sometimes we're getting a bad look," offensive coordinator Nick Holz said. "Cam did a great job getting us out of those bad looks."
"It was a pure protection check on his own," Callahan said. "That was really encouraging to see."
Ward made the right check, but the execution fell short. Broncos nickel cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian came off the edge untouched on the play and got one of Denver's six sacks. That is a sign of how the Titans are still at the entry level of the process toward building a contender.
"He's also with a bunch of other young players too," Holz said. "They all got to keep up with him, and he's got to be able to keep up with them. It's not just Cam checking or doing something different. It's all about 11 guys seeing if they can handle it."
Operation-wise, Ward did exactly what Callahan wanted. The second-year coach wants to gradually grant Ward more freedom to audible at the line. The next step is to keep the focus on getting the offense in a better situation and finding the big play.
"There's an understanding, too, that when you check plays at quarterback, it's not necessarily always trying to check for the big one," Callahan said. "We're building that, and I think that's one of Cam's superpowers -- that's one of the weapons that's going to make him a really good player in this league, his ability to operate at the line of scrimmage and manipulate the offense the way he sees fit."
Holz co-signed the assessment that Ward operated effectively pre-snap and added another example.
"He did a great job," Holz said. "He had a couple where he got a safety pressure, and he moved the protection there, and other ones where he changed some routes that went really well."
The volume of checks will be situational, depending on the opponent, but he'll gain more freedom as he acclimates.
Unfortunately for a Titans' offense that failed to score a touchdown in Week 1, it will face a Los Angeles Rams defense in Week 2 that has yet to concede one when the Rams (1-0) head to Nissan Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) for the Titans' home opener.
With right tackle JC Latham nursing a hip injury that caused him to miss 12 snaps toward the end of last week's game, that could also be cause for concern with the Rams sacking Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud three times in the opener.
"It's the first game, [so] we're not really tripping too much," Ward said after the game. "We know we all got stuff to clean up, including myself, to get ready and try to win next week."