Reviewing the football weekend that was for Middle Tennessee’s teams:
It never ceases to amaze how easily the unimportant turns important when placed in the NFL’s spotlight.
After the Tennessee Titans’ Oct. 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which dropped the Titans to 0-4 with no end to the misery in sight, quarterback Cam Ward was shown by the team’s live stream griping as he had to wait for reporters to return to the press conference area to interview him. Ward briefly threatened to leave. But reporters soon arrived, and off they went, asking questions.
That was pretty much it. A 20-second video of Ward’s reaction, though, went viral on social media.A post on X by radio host Jared Stillman had 3.1 million views (and was climbing quickly) the following
morning.
The @Titans livestream caught Cam Ward at the podium before the media had finished with other players in the open locker room.
— Jared Stillman (@JaredStillman) October 4, 2026
An impatient Ward threatened to walkout if he had to wait longer than three minutes and tapped his fingers on the podium.
Ward is 3-18 as a starter pic.twitter.com/FiJPM4L9JI
The video wasn’t a great look for Ward when viewed out of context.
But, look, he didn’t leave the podium. He wasn’t disrespectful to anyone. He answered the media’s questions. He’s also far from the only NFL player to be grumpy after a tough defeat.
Cameras don’t often catch it, but circumstances like this are routine after NFL games. Especially on the road, when a smaller number of traveling media members are in the locker room informally interviewing players at the same time a team’s media rep escorts the quarterback (as is mandated) to the press-conference podium for a formal, live-streamed interview.
Without getting too far into the weeds, the postgame media process involves a lot of moving, uncoordinated pieces. Sometimes, reporters get delayed speaking to other players before realizing that they need to hustle back to the podium, which is in another location, sometimes far from that locker room.
After the Titans' season-opening loss in Chicago in 2024 (known as Will Levis’ flip-six game), I was in a mostly empty press-conference room when a dejected Levis arrived early. He sat next to me and waited. It made for the lead to my column from that game.
As for Ward, there is plenty to scrutinize and criticize and hold against a former No. 1 overall pick who is four games into his second season and has won only three times.
A candid, trivial media moment like this, however, shouldn’t be one of those things. If Ward had been smiling and cracking jokes, everyone would’ve moaned that he wasn't taking losing seriously enough. In the NFL, you can't win in media settings if you are not winning on the field.
Saleh staying positive
The more these Titans lose, the more Robert Saleh seems to double down on their future improvement.
“Eventually, this team is going to become really good,” Saleh said on a call the morning after the loss in Baltimore. “I know it has been a painful process in the interim, but this team is going to be good. I believe it.”
That makes one of us, Coach. Though I am intrigued by the continued conviction in your words. Will hold you to them.
QB drama for Vols, Commodores
It can be a wild, unpredictable ride to start a true freshman quarterback in the SEC, and both Tennessee and Vanderbilt are experiencing that, Neither of their five-star QB starters made it through games this past weekend.
The Vols insisted that Faizon Brandon wasn't injured after he played (poorly) and was benched for George MacIntyre during an uninspiring win over Auburn. (By the way, how odd is it that the coaching architects of the Vols’ sensational 2022 offense – Josh Heupel and Alex Golesh – combined to produce one of the ugliest first halves of offensive football you’ll see in this era of SEC football?)
Meanwhile, the Commodores insisted that Jared Curtis was injured when he didn’t dress out for a loss at Georgia, which left a lot of Bulldogs folks wondering if he might've been ducking the powerful program he left at the altar when he switched his commitment to Vandy.
I got asked that a lot about Curtis while in Athens for this game, and while I certainly believe Clark Lea that Curtis was injured (and I told people so), it’d have been an easier case to make if the program allowed the public to hear from its starting quarterback once in a while. Vandy hasn’t made Curtis available to local media since April.
Big game ahead in Clarksville
Marquee FCS matchup incoming at Fortera Stadium when Austin Peay (5-1) hosts Tarleton State (5-0) at 6 p.m. on Oct. 10 in a matchup that could end up deciding the pecking order in the United Athletic Conference. Both are contenders for the FCS playoffs. Last week's national FCS rankings had Tarleton at No. 4 and Austin Peay at No. 11.
Coach Jeff Faris' Govs, with QB Chris Parson, have been as strong as expected this season. Their only loss was by punching up to FBS at Vanderbilt (28-9), and the five victories were by a combined score of 213-69, with 18 points being the closest margin. Most recently, APSU beat New Haven 42-17 featuring special teams highlights from wide receiver Denver Harper that ended up on ESPN's "SportsCenter."
Y'all never gonna guess who showed up on @SportsCenter tonight.
— Austin Peay Football (@GovsFB) October 4, 2026
(Nah, you'll totally guess, it was @Denver_Harper1.)#LetsGoPeay | #WeWILL pic.twitter.com/f2ccZlRa4E
Extra Points
Titans receiver Calvin Ridley hasn’t made much of an impact this season and was down to 30 offensive snaps (47%) against the Ravens. That was behind three of the team’s WRs, including Elic Ayomanor (62%). … Titans linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., however, played 100% of the Titans’ defensive signs, a clear sign that the future is already here for that rookie. … MTSU just had a performance to forget at Kansas, getting routed 55-0 (the program's largest loss in 20 years) while allowing the Jayhawks a whopping 706 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Blue Raiders quarterback Roman Gagliano threw for only 80 yards. If you're thinking, "Well, maybe Kansas is just that good," the Jayhawks were 1-2 entering this game, having lost to Missouri (38-21) and Arizona State (24-17). ... After winning 20 of the program's last 22 games, previously unbeaten Tennessee Tech (4-1)hit a wall during a 44-20 loss on Oct. 3 at Western Carolina (3-3), which gained 534 offensive yards and took advantage of four Golden Eagles turnovers.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: I don't care about Cam Ward's candid, viral grumbles, and neither should you | Estes
