Jaguars

The Jaguars swapped cornerbacks and draft picks with Cleveland by sending Tyson Campbell to Cleveland for Greg Newsome II. Following the trade, Newsome expressed his excitement to be somewhere he was hand-picked and is willing to do whatever is asked of him in the zone-heavy defense. 

“[I’m] super excited to feel wanted,” Newsome said, via Juston Lewis of the Florida Times-Union. “My agent told me, ‘They wanted you. Cleveland didn’t reach out, they wanted you.’ My goal is to do whatever I can to make their decision right.”

“Whatever coach decides I’ll be down for it. I’m trying to play as much as I can. I love playing the game of football, but whatever I can pick up and retain and whatever coach’s decision.”

Titans

Titans QB Cam Ward made headlines with his criticism about the team before Week 6.  Ward said the locker room responded well to his comments. 

“I didn’t care,” Ward said, via Michael Silver of The Athletic. “It was true. And that’s how we played those previous weeks. But I think the biggest thing is that nobody in the locker room pointed fingers; we just kept working. (My teammates) knew where I was coming from. Now, I could have helped out some people in regards of just (giving them a heads-up that) they’re gonna get asked the question. I could’ve helped them out that way. But they knew what I meant, and they knew how we were playing. So, they knew we were ass.”

One anonymous source within the Titans said there hasn’t been much “alignment” within the organization, but everyone is on board with Ward. 

“There hasn’t been a lot of alignment in this building,” the source said. “But if there’s one thing that everybody agrees on, it’s Cam Ward.”

Ward has built a reputation for always being early to the team facility and putting a lot of effort into studying film. 

“I can’t step away from it, honestly,” Ward said. “There’s so much tape I watch, whether it’s of myself, other quarterbacks or the opponent we’re playing. I think about it, really, at all times. If it’s quiet, I’m probably thinking about a play I messed up or something that I’ve seen (on film). So, yeah, I really don’t stop thinking about it. A lot of times, it’s (about) the bad plays. It’s frustrating for me because I’m not playing how I want to play. I can’t play no damn worse. I can, but s—, I ain’t trying to. The only way is up.”

Titans

The Titans elected to part ways with HC Brian Callahan after their 1-5 start to the season. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports cites a team source who said the team needed a real head coach, while Callahan operated more like an offensive coordinator. 

“We had a head coach trying to be an offensive coordinator, but he had to learn how to be a head coach first,” the team source said. “We needed a head coach more than we needed a play caller.”

Jones points out that Tennessee’s offense is the NFL’s worst through six weeks, according to advanced analytics. Another team source said QB Cam Ward is “drowning.” 

“We’re praying for a miracle, but he’s drowning,” the source said. 

One league source questions Tennessee’s ownership and the amount of turnover within the organization over the past three years. 

“They’re so quick to jump on things there,” the source said. “I really question ownership. The turnover they’ve had here the last three years… This is a total rebuild.”

• ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler say the sense around the Titans is that the lack of progress shown this season is why the team changed its mind about Callahan despite retaining him after last season. The development of Ward was also a primary concern. 
• There’s some buzz that the timing of the firing was influenced by former HC Mike Vrabel coming to Tennessee this upcoming week with the Patriots. One industry source told ESPN: “They didn’t want Vrabel to be the one to dunk on [Callahan].”