Tennessee Titans training camp observations: Why Brian Callahan ended practice with pointed rant

The Tennessee Titans' media policy forbids anyone from reporting direct quotes from coaches or players that are said on the practice field during the heat of training camp.

So instead of direct attribution, use your imagination to deduce which of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" Titans coach Brian Callahan lobbed toward his offense to mark the end of practice on Sunday, Aug. 3. Callahan was clearly frustrated by an offense that struggled to move the ball in team periods, piled up a few penalties and generally dealt with the wear-and-tear of handling a fourth fully padded practice in five days.

Guard Peter Skoronski admits he wasn't surprised by Callahan's rant. He kind of felt it bubbling up as the self-inflicted mistakes kept piling up, to a point that when Callahan opened his mouth, Skoronski's reaction was "Oh, there it is." And while Callahan has the reputation for being a mild-mannered coach, safety Amani Hooker says a quick outburst like this is well-worn territory.

"That was nothing," Hooker says. "We’ve seen Cally, going 3-14, we’ve seen him snap a lot last year. For you guys, you probably don’t see it that often. But Cally loves ball."

After practice, Callahan gathered his players into a longer-than-normal end-of-session huddle. Hooker says the message was one of response to ups and downs. Football doesn't always go according to plan, but those who respond the best are the ones likeliest to succeed.

"Last year, we didn’t respond well in tough situations," Hooker said. "This year that’s what we want to do."

"I wouldn’t say it was as dominant as he probably described it," running back Tony Pollard said. "But it was a day that the offense, we had a lot of self-inflicted errors today. False starts, things that we can control. That’s definitely something we need to approach a little harder this year because that was a big problem last year."

Here are more of The Tennessean's observations from training camp practice on Aug. 3.

Tennessee Titans training camp observations

Cam Ward analysis: Stats, the good, the bad

Ward had a solid showing in red zone 7-on-7 drills, completing three of his four passes for two touchdowns, both of which went to tight ends. He was less successful throwing the ball in full-team periods, finishing his day 5-for-16. He didn't have any turnovers or balls batted at the line of scrimmage, as had been his issue earlier in the week. But he failed to complete a pass in the daily third-down simulation period, an area where he's normally thrived, and he wasn't able to advance the ball out of the shadow of his own end zone in a "backed up" period that followed.

Ward's first week of padded practices has been a clinic in finding the small positives in a pile of misses. One of those examples in this practice came on a nice sideline-breaking comeback route completed to tight end Gunnar Helm in the first team period, showing off Ward's precision. But for every moment like that, there are two or three where Ward threw a little behind a receiver or was predictable enough in his decision that a safety was able to break toward an open receiver with the ball in the air and disrupt a pass.

A (minor) scuffle

The Titans haven't been doing much intrasquad fighting this training camp. A minor skirmish did break out in this one. Receiver Mason Kinsey and cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr., tussled after a play, leading to Brownlee body-slamming Kinsey. Right tackle JC Latham stepped in to protect Kinsey, which attracted the attention of defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, then suddenly a big scrum formed.

Naturally, this lasted for all of three to five seconds before dissipating, and play continued without any further disruption, escalation or ejection.

Injury updates, stray observations

• Four players missed practice: Offensive linemen Blake Hance, Chandler Brewer and Kevin Zeitler and defensive lineman T'Vondre Sweat. Zeitler was given a veteran's off-day, while the other three are still working through day-to-day injuries. Offensive lineman Arlington Hambright, who'd spent time with the Titans in the past, was signed to alleviate some of the O-line depth problems; the Titans waived receiver Ramel Keyton to make space on the roster.
• Hooker made a dazzling toe-tapping interception in 7-on-7s and was one of the players to cut underneath a Ward throw for a near interception in the team period. This might've been the most Hooker has stood out in an individual practice this preseason.
• Second-round pick Oluwafemi Oladejo had a second straight solid day. He wasn't as impressive in 1-on-1 drills as he was the day prior, but he showed up in the third-down team period by registering multiple quarterback hurries. On one play, Oladejo got into the backfield quickly enough to have potentially been able to knock the ball out of Ward's hand from behind in live action.
• Kicker Joey Slye had a nice bounce-back day after struggling a day ago. He was 6-for-6 in his team kicking period, with his longest kick in the sessions coming from 54 yards out with plenty of air underneath it to have been good from longer.

The Titans return to the practice field on Wednesday, Aug. 6, then head to Tampa for a joint practice with the Buccaneers on Aug. 7.

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.