NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After Robert Saleh was hired to be the next coach of the Tennessee Titans in January, his first move was to hire Brian Daboll to run the offense. Now he's hoping to tap into Daboll's documented success with quarterbacks, and the early returns were on display last week when the team opened up OTAs.
Saleh knows having the right quarterback and offensive coordinator pairing is critical, and the Titans will be in great shape if Daboll can find the degree of success in Tennessee with second-year quarterback Cam Ward that he had as the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, where he helped plant the seeds for the growth of Josh Allen to help him become a perennial MVP candidate.
There's already something to build on after Ward ended his rookie season trending upward by passing for 10 of his 15 touchdowns over the last eight games despite suffering an injury to his throwing shoulder on the opening drive of the season finale. Ward has since resumed throwing and has been a full participant in OTAs up to this point, and the two have gotten off to a good start.
"It's been great," Saleh said. "Right now, things are good. Everyone's receptive. Everyone's paying attention, and there's a lot of good dialogue, and right now is a great opportunity to build trust. There'll be bumps in the road, and it'll be exciting to see how those interactions take place when that happens."