Believe it or not, Carnell Tate's streak of consecutive seasons playing with a new quarterback is longer than Cam Ward's streak of consecutive seasons with new offensive coordinators. Considerably so, actually.
The two young cornerstones of the Tennessee Titans' offense are survivors of modern football's new landscape. Ward played for different coordinators in back-to-back years at Washington State, before transferring to play for a new coordinator for one season at Miami, then he turned pro and is already on his third play-caller before he's even started his second season. Tate, meanwhile, played with three quarterbacks in three years at Ohio State, two quarterbacks in two years at IMG Academy and even more passers before that at Marist in his native
Chicago.
Ward's a pro at picking up new offenses quick. And Tate, as it seems, is a pro at picking up new quarterbacks just as quickly.
"You’ve got to show up for the quarterback," Tate told The Tennessean. "Ultimately, showing up, that’s where it starts. My relationship with Cam started with me showing up. When he needed someone to throw to, I just show up. I think that goes a long way. Because whenever Cam needs me on the field, he knows I’ve been showing up for him off the field, so he knows I can be that guy for him."
Tate was one of several teammates Ward brought out to Miami for some offseason rest, relaxation and chemistry work after minicamp. The way Tate tells it, Ward put his receivers through a gauntlet of situational preparation. They'd rep the same route six or so times in a row, but Ward would put a new wrinkle on each snap. They'd simulate press coverage and free releases, Cover 2 versus Cover 3, routes against tight windows, routes that need to be cut off quicker than usual, routes that turn into scramble drills and routes that result in cross-body throws, to name a few.
Ward says he's trying to understand and install angles. As long as he knows where his receiver's body will be positioned in a given situation, he knows what to do with it. Then it all comes down to timing and spacing. That's what Ward knows is going to pay off when practice reps dwindle later in the season, and what coach Robert Saleh says he's looking for as training camp trudges along.
"You’ll start to see it., the timing of the rhythm throws where you can just tell that the quarterback and the receiver are on the same page where a receiver might have the DB in his route a little bit," Saleh said. "You’re getting a different coverage and he might shave a little bit off the route concept and the quarterback is in tune with him."
As for the Tate-Ward connection specifically, it's a work-in-progress that's paying off in small ways early. Take the Titans' first padded practice on Aug. 3, for example. Tate only caught one pass on the day. But it was a play where Ward recognized a mismatch in the defense, checked his play at the line of scrimmage and guided Tate open on an out-breaking route for about 10 yards.
"A quarterback has so many things going on," Tate said. "They’ve got to read the defense. They’ve got to set the protection. They’ve got to know the cadence and they’ve also got to know what each and every person is going on. As a receiver, our job is easy. The quarterback tells us what to do, you go out there and do it. Just try to catch the ball."
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Inside what Carnell Tate is doing to build chemistry with Titans QB Cam Ward
