DENVER (AP) — The Cam Ward era gets started Sunday in Denver, and the Tennessee Titans are aiming for the type of turnaround the Broncos put together last year behind quarterback Bo Nix.
Nix threw for 29 touchdowns as a rookie to help the Broncos reach the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
The Titans are coming off a three-win season that netted them the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, which they used on Ward.
Ward is used to adapting to new teams quickly. He started at Incarnate Word, spent two seasons at Washington State and wound up fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting after his lone season at Miami. He set a Division I record by throwing for 158 touchdowns in his career, including 39 for the Hurricanes.
Ward also faces long odds of leaving Denver with a win in his NFL debut.
Quarterbacks taken at No. 1 overall are 4-14-1 in the common draft era when starting a season opener. When Caleb Williams got a win with Chicago last year, it was the first season-opening triumph for a No. 1 pick QB since David Carr in 2002.
"We don’t need him to do anything superhuman,” Titans coach Brian Callahan said. “We just need him to play good football.”
Broncos coach Sean Payton has dismissed any talk of a sophomore slump for Nix, who's one of the main reasons he spent the summer saying he envisions a Super Bowl run this season.
“My chest isn’t puffed out," Payton said. “I just think this team is further along than what it was two years ago. Two years ago, quite honestly, we weren’t near where we are now. Our goals obviously start with winning the division, best seed possible, play for a Super Bowl. I think that’s where your mind has to be if you plan on winning one of those. You don’t just arrive Week 8 and say, ‘We’re on a roll. We might win this thing.’”
His players certainly have his back, embracing the Super Bowl talk even as the Kansas City Chiefs chase their 10th consecutive AFC West crown.
“Yes, it gives us a lot of confidence when you hear that from your head man,” said cornerback Patrick Surtain II, last season's NFL defensive player of the year.
Titans center Lloyd Cushenberry, who signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Titans to leave Denver in 2024, doesn't have any tips for his teammates on how to handle the altitude in the Mile High City.
“I played there four years and never really got used to it,” Cushenberry said. “I mean, it’s something you just got to deal with. So it’s just a part of it. Got to fight through. We have oxygen tanks on the sideline.”
The Titans cut linebacker Harold Landry III, their sack leader in 2024 with nine, in a salary cap move in March. Tennessee's defense managed just 32 sacks last season, ahead of only Atlanta (31) and New England (28).
The Titans hope they have replacements lined up after signing veteran Dre’Mont Jones and drafting Oluwafemi Oladejo. Jones was drafted by Denver in 2019 and had 22 sacks over four seasons with the Broncos.
Denver led the league with a franchise-best 63 sacks last season, including 13 1/2 from Nik Bonitto, who signed a massive contract extension Thursday.
The Titans will be starting a pair of rookies on offense. In addition to Ward, the Titans have tabbed Elic Ayomanor as a starting wide receiver alongside veterans Calvin Ridley and Tyler Lockett. Ayomanor was a fourth-round pick out of Stanford and is listed on the depth chart ahead of veteran Van Jefferson.
Both of the Broncos' starting inside linebackers are coming off major injuries. Alex Singleton tore his left ACL last September and then broke his left thumb this summer. Dre Greenlaw played in just two games last season in San Francisco after tearing an Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl after the 2023 season.
A quad injury this spring prevented Greenlaw from participating in the offseason program and he didn't play in the preseason. He had some terrific practices before an apparent aggravation of the injury sent him to a side field this week.
Greenlaw may be limited to a cameo appearance Sunday, but either way, Singleton is eager to play alongside him in the middle of Denver's defense.
“He plays fast, he plays violent, physical, everything you want out of a linebacker,” Singleton said.
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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
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