Tennessee Titans‘ Cam Ward wanted to look calm after a rough preseason. He offered a measured response to a reporter who bluntly said that the quarterback’s performance was “not well.” However, according to former Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko, Ward’s comments seemed like a farce.

“Oh my God, Cam Ward, you are a crybaby,” Fehoko said on his show, reacting to Cam Ward’s response to former radio host and now podcaster/journalist Jared Stillman.

Following the incident, Stillman’s press credentials were revoked by the Titans, claiming that his work as a YouTuber did not warrant his presence there.

“Glad you don’t think so,” Ward had replied to Stillman’s ‘not well’ comment. “I assess it as: did we win the game, or did we lose a game? I assess it as what I can get better at. I don’t assess it as someone who can get up there and operate when everything’s on. It’s a different process level. So it’s more of slowing down the game to everybody. And I believe we made a huge jump from Week 1 to Week 2 because we’re getting more condensed in a playbook. We’re not really opening everything up. And, you know, when we come to Week 1, I think it’ll be a different story.”

But Breiden Fehoko believes otherwise.

“Why do athletes continuously do that? A reporter asked you a question, you know the obvious answer: Cam Ward, you haven’t been playing well in this preseason. Like, stop doing that. … It’s obvious. If something smells stink, if it looks like s–t, it’s s–t.

“I hate when athletes try to outsmart whether it’s the media or fans and try to gaslight them into an obvious answer that everybody knows.”

Cam Ward’s preseason didn’t exactly go according to plan. In Week 1, he went 5-of-12 for 57 yards as the Titans edged past the 49ers 19-13. Week 2 looked a little sharper, 8-of-12 for 69 yards in a 19-16 win over the Seahawks. He seemed to bounce back in the joint practice with the Chicago Bears before their preseason finale, going 19-of-30 with three touchdowns and just one interception, connecting seven times with fourth-overall pick Carnell Tate, including two touchdowns.

But all of that wasn’t convincing enough for Stillman.

Shannon Sharpe weighed in too, tackling the whole exchange on his Nightcap podcast.

“They got to realize the reporters aren’t fans,” Sharpe said. “They have a job to do. And sometimes, somehow, they’ve gotten confused when reporters do their jobs. His job is to critique and analyze. He’s like, okay, from his analysis, he hadn’t played well.”

But he went back around to reemphasize his point: “[Ward] hasn’t played good football. He hasn’t.”

It’s worth remembering Ward is only in his second season. As a rookie in 2025, he started all 17 games, completed 59.8% of his passes, threw for 3,169 yards, and had 15 touchdowns against 7 interceptions, while the team finished 3-14.

On an equally concerning note, the Titans reached the end zone only once in their six preseason drives led by Ward. However, head coach Robert Saleh, in his first year of leading the team, remains confident the quarterback will shine in the season.

“This kid’s not going to fail,” he said last Sunday. “Obviously, I put my job on that one, but he’s not going to fail. He’s special.”

It is too early to write Cam Ward off as a bust. As Sports Illustrated’s Bryce W. Lazenby pointed out, the quarterback had to depend on a supporting cast that consisted of names like Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor, and veterans Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson. This year, Ward will have a dynamic wide receiver in rookie Carnell Tate, and a talented veteran in Cameron Ridley.

It is now up to Ward and the rest of the Titans to help Saleh and Co. live up to the bold expectations they are setting for themselves. Tennessee opens the 2026 season vs the New York Jets on September 13.