NASHVILLE — With one week to go, Cam Ward has been sacked 55 times so far in the NFL’s 2025 season.
And yet the No. 1 overall pick of last April’s draft has been available for every game and taken every offensive snap for the Tennessee Titans during his first year as a pro.
When the Titans (3-13) play their finale Sunday against the host Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4), the rookie will make his 17th start, giving Tennessee a type of stability at quarterback it has rarely enjoyed over the past three decades.
How rare? This will be just the seventh season the same quarterback has started every game for the Titans since the franchise formerly known as the Houston Oilers left Texas for Tennessee ahead of the 1997 season.
The only NFL teams in the same span with fewer seasons with the same quarterback starting every game are the Chicago Bears and the Cleveland Browns, with three each. The Bears, who are in contention for the NFC’s No. 2 seed in the playoffs, could make it four seasons for them if Caleb William starts the North Division champions’ regular-season finale Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Like the Titans, the Philadelphia Eagles are currently at seven such seasons in that span, but it would be eight if Jalen Hurts starts the NFC East champions’ regular-season finale Sunday against the Washington Commanders.
“It’s something that I don’t take lightly, because every time you step on the field you never know when it could be your last down,” Ward said Wednesday. “So I’m blessed … it’s God and my O-line that’s keeping me healthy the entire way, and I know they’re going to keep on doing it.”
Steve McNair started every game for Tennessee in 1997, 1998 and 2002, Matt Hasselbeck started all 16 games in 2011, and Ryan Tannehill started every game in both 2020 (when the regular season was still 16 games) and in 2021 (when it was 17 games for the first time).
Ward is the franchise’s first rookie to throw for at least 3,000 yards in a season. Left guard Peter Skoronski said the Titans all know their quarterback has taken some hits — no one in the NFL has been sacked more often this season, with Las Vegas Raiders starter Geno Smith also having taken 55 — and the third-year pro called it impressive that Ward has been on the field for every snap Tennessee’s offense has taken this season.
“In the NFL, availability is critical,” Skoronski said. “So to have that, especially at your most important position, I think is huge. It speaks to his toughness, his mentality.”
Ward has put together four straight games with two touchdown passes and hasn’t been picked off once in the past three. He has 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions this season for a 1.3% interception rate, which would break Tannehill’s team record of 1.5% in 2020 among qualifying quarterbacks.
The rookie’s 537 passes are second in franchise history only to Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, who threw 655 in 1991 and 584 in 1990.
Better yet, Ward is why four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons keeps telling people he doesn’t want to leave the Titans.
“I see the competitive nature, I see the growth as a rookie of Cam,” the seventh-year pro said. “I can see where he could take this franchise, so I’m looking forward to continuing to end the season the right way, and we’ll see how next year goes for us.”
New Orleans Saints defensive end Chase Young also sees greatness ahead for Ward.
He sacked Ward in the Saints’ 34-26 win last Sunday at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium and took the ball away for a touchdown. He also saw Ward just miss converting on fourth-and-10 while falling, with the Tennessee quarterback flicking the ball to a teammate for a 17-yard completion that was wiped out when a video review showed his knee touching the ground first.
Young compared Ward to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time league MVP.
“Being able to extend plays while still having his eyes down the field, he’s a phenomenal young quarterback,” Young said.
Titans coaches have raved about Ward’s work ethic since early in the offseason program, and receiver Chimere Dike, a fellow rookie who was selected for the Pro Bowl as a return specialist last week, said Ward wanted to meet at 5 a.m. back in the spring.
Dike said getting up that early wasn’t easy, but Ward wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Discomfort breeds growth,” Dike said of the early sessions. “When you’re in an uncomfortable situation doing stuff that you don’t want to do, usually you know you get better from it.”
Ward now has four or five notebooks filled with information learned from playing 11 of the NFL’s 12 stingiest defenses this season, including two inside the AFC South in the Jaguars and the Houston Texans.
Titans interim coach Mike McCoy said he has seen improvement each week from Ward.
“It’s only going to make things easier for him moving forward,” McCoy said. “I think he’s done a great job week after week of learning and understanding what we’re trying to accomplish. He’s got a really bright future.”