Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback and No. 1 pick Cam Ward is unsurprisingly making an impression on his new team, but he has surprised his teammates and head coach Brian Callahan with one of his abilities—his trash talking. In particular, Ward's ability to trash talk at the same time as listening to Callahan send in the play call has stood out to the coach.
"I'll be honest, I'm not used to calling plays to a quarterback who's usually still talking when I'm talking to him," Callahan said on Wednesday. "And that's great. I asked him after practice, 'Help me out here. Do you need me to wait til you're finished?' He goes, 'No, I'm listening.'”
Brian Callahan on Cam Ward talking trash while receiving the play call:
— Justin Graver (@titansfilmroom) June 11, 2025
"I thought that was actually kind of remarkable." pic.twitter.com/5hbR1WEhBi
"He's hearing what I'm telling him," Callahan continued. "It was pretty remarkable to see all the things going on, how much he's talking, but his brain is still with me. When I'm calling a play, he's doing all he's doing, but he's listening to everything I'm telling him. He enters right into the huddle and calls the play and doesn't screw up the play call. I thought that was actually kind of remarkable. I don't know, I couldn't do that. That's just who he is, that's his personality. If it was something I felt like was detrimental to his ability to manage the offense and call it in the huddle and all that, I'd probably have a couple things to say to him, but he didn't miss a beat."
This ability also stood out to Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, who was one defender Ward smack-talked with during Titans' minicamp.
"I've been hearing how much smack he talks," Simmons said, via Jim Wyatt of the Titans' website. "… and I saw him this past weekend and was like, 'I'm going to be talking smack to you, too.' It's fun. … We went back and forth talking smack to each other and he was able to get back in the huddle and throw the ball down the field. That was the most impressive thing, not talking smack to me, but being able to get back in the huddle, get the plays to the guys, and still be able to operate the offense."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Titans Coach Impressed With Cam Ward's Unique Trash-Talking Ability.
