The Titans are off to another awful start under second-year coach Brian Callahan, going 0–4 to kick off the 2025 season. The on-field product is somehow worse than the team's record, too. Tennessee looks hapless more often than not and rookie quarterback Cam Ward is already sick of it.
After Sunday's shutout loss to the Texans, Ward ripped how his team had been performing to start the year. His frustrated review was punctuated with one quote that went viral: "We ass." It's the sort of brutally honest review that fans love but almost never hear from active NFL players because coaches prefer to keep that sort of criticism inside the building.
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So it was worth monitoring what Ward's coach thought about the situation. On Wednesday, Callahan addressed the quote and said Ward is a young player with high expectations for himself and the team who is still learning how to navigate the media waters.
"He's a young player," Callahan said. "He's the number one overall pick. He’s the face of the franchise, if you will. He’s got high expectations for himself. We have high expectations around him, and we all want to meet those, and his ability to be in that spotlight in that moment I think is a growing process for him. I think he’s growing up. I think he’s starting to understand the weight of his words, what those things mean, when he speaks and everyone’s listening and watching... He's learning how to deal with you guys and how to understand how to have those conversations and still maintain the image that he wants to maintain as it’s a starting quarterback.
"Growing up is not always easy, and I think there’s some things that he’s learning along the way, just like we all do."
Brian Callahan on Cam Ward: “He’s learning to grow up in the NFL and learning the weight his words carry” pic.twitter.com/uT2I45tbCf
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) October 1, 2025
A measured response to Ward's harsh critiques.
Ward is also not very far off the mark. The Titans are not good in any area and it's hard to see many wins in their future this season. But Callahan clearly believes Ward will be better about handling the disappointment going forward.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Titans Head Coach Responds to Cam Ward's Viral NSFW Quote.
