Cam Ward gives himself an F, so far

For the Titans and rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the letter of the moment is F.

Head coach Brian Callahan was fired. And, via Michael Silver of TheAthletic.com, Ward's grade for his own performance through six games is F.

The letter of the future, however, could also be F. In a good way.

I'm not playing how I want to play right now," Ward told Silver. So, once I play how I want to play, I think the league will be fucked."

For now, Ward's situation is. Through six games, the No. 1 overall pick in April has the second lowest passer rating for all qualifying starters (67.3) other than Joe Flacco (60.3). Moving forward, the same coaching staff that has engineered Ward's abysmal career start remains in place, with only Callahan and his father, Bill, gone. Mike McCoy, who went 27-37 in the regular season and 1-1 in the postseason as head coach of the Chargers, takes over for the balance of the season (unless there's an eventual interim to the interim).

Then what? That next move by the Titans will be critical to Ward's development. Will they find the best, most creative, most dynamic coach available? Or will the current power structure (with president of football operations Chad Brinker holding the ear of ownership) look for someone who will land in the sweet spot of sufficient competence and muted ambition, so that he won't become a threat to become the new apple of Amy Adams Strunk's eye?

After the Titans were shut out in Houston two weeks ago, Ward summarized the team's situation with two words: "We ass." And while Brian Callahan thereafter suggested that Ward shouldn't have said it publicly, Ward made it clear to Silver that Ward has no regrets.

I didn't care," Ward said of the reaction to his comment. It was true. And that's how we played those previous weeks. But I think the biggest thing is that nobody in the locker room pointed fingers; we just kept working.

[My teammates] knew where I was coming from. Now, I could have helped out some people in regards of just [giving them a heads-up that] they're gonna get asked the question. I could've helped them out that way. But they knew what I meant, and they knew how we were playing. So, they knew we were ass."

The Titans still are. And there's no reason to think it will change. The wave of partial terminations in Tennessee has happened for too long to not be a trend. There's never a housecleaning. Those with the power will make decisions aimed at preserving it. And dynamics other than winning will continue until the Titans stumble into a successful formula through a constant stream of unsuccessful adjustments.

The stakes are high for Ward. For his maturation. For the level of support he has around him, on both sides of the ball. For his earning capacity on his second contract. For his legacy.

The NFL has structured the draft to give the worst teams dibs on the best incoming players, without regard to what it will mean for the best available players to have no viable alternative to accepting assignment to the worst teams.

Even when it looks like it has worked, as it did when quarterback Joe Burrow turned the Bengals around in 2020, it's not sustainable. The qualities that made the Bengals the worst team in 2019 still linger, and Burrow currently has not much help beyond a pair of high-end receivers. The best evidence comes from the extent to which the franchise has become completely lost without him.

There's not much Ward can do at this point, except wish it works out. And hope that, if it doesn't, he'll get a chance to develop into the next quarterback (like Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, and Daniel Jones) who finds his footing with a much better franchise once he finally becomes a free agent.