Did Cam Ward's post-win message fall flat with Titans?

The Tennessee Titans got a big win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, but not everyone was in a state of euphoria after the game. 

While most players were elated and celebrating the victory, rookie quarterback Cam Ward wasn’t quite ecstatic, and his post-game remarks have set off a firestorm of criticism and sparked some questions about his attitude, since he was even reportedly being called out on the team plane as the team returned to Nashville. 

Titans’ sideline reporter Will Boling opened up on his morning radio show about the incident and told Ramon Foster, “Arden Key gets on the intercom and says, ‘You all enjoy this! Don’t listen to what Cam (Ward) said! You all enjoy this! It’s hard to win in this league, enjoy it!”

On the one hand, Key is absolutely correct. Winning in the NFL is difficult, and the Titans have not enjoyed much success in recent seasons, but was what Ward said completely off base? 

In his post-game presser, Ward stated, “It feels good to win. But, you know, winning still hides stuff. There’s a lot of flaws that we’ve got to continue to get over personally, and then just as a team. And we’ve just got to come next week with the right mindset.”

And continued with, “We didn’t play our best ball in the fourth quarter, and that’s just something that, as players, we’ve got to hold ourselves to that standard. We’ve got to not have a play off here and there. We’ve got to continue to communicate at a high level in all three phases.”

Nothing Ward said about those should be taken at face value, or negatively. Tennessee did play complementary football, but their fourth-quarter performance was littered with penalties and mistakes that could have cost them the victory, especially if Browns coach Kevin Stefansky didn’t channel his inner Brian Callahan with his play calling in critical moments. 

But it appears his comments about winning in general, and himself, caused the stir. “I really didn’t need it. I treat the wins the same. I treat the losses the same. There’s always something that I have to do better. It’s a lot of plays that I missed out there just from not giving my receivers a chance. And I really–I just–I wake up tomorrow, I’m going to do the same thing I did last week, try to get better.”

Unfortunately, Ward is a rookie, and no matter how much of a leader he is and will grow into, his words won’t always resonate with some veterans, especially on a team in the midst of rebuilding everything, including its culture. As Ward matures, he will learn that the post-game press conference after a hard-fought victory is not the best platform to point out negatives, and in doing so, he can grow as a leader. 

Is it an attitude issue? No, not if you want a player to lead and be great. Ward has shown the desire and work ethic to be that player, and some of his veteran teammates should listen to him and embrace the cultural shift underway in Nashville.  

This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Tennessee Titans: Did Cam Ward's post-win message fall flat?