Cam Ward injury update: Titans QB out after shoulder injury vs. Jaguars

• Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward left the Week 18 game against the Jaguars with a shoulder injury.
• The injury occurred during a first-quarter touchdown run after a hard hit from a Jaguars linebacker.
• Prior to the injury, the former Miami star had played every offensive snap of the season for Tennessee.

Tennessee Titans quarterback and former Miami star Cam Ward exited the Week 18 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a shoulder injury, sustained during a first-quarter touchdown run at EverBank Stadium on Jan. 4.

The Titans initially listed Ward as questionable to return, before declaring him out late in the first quarter. Up until the injury, the rookie quarterback had appeared in every offensive snap during the regular season for last-place Tennessee.

While rounding right end and diving for the end zone, Ward absorbed a hard hit from Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun as he also struck the ground just inside the end zone pylon. The rush gave the Titans a short-lived 7-0 lead.

Ward entered the medical tent after the injury, and Tennessee medical staff subsequently escorted him to the locker room.

The rookie from Miami had completed 24 of 38 passes for 141 yards when the Titans played Jacksonville on Nov. 30, a 25-3 Jaguars win. At Miami, Ward was a finalist for the 2024 Heisman Trophy, which ultimately went to Colorado receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, now with the Jaguars but also out due to injury.

Former Jaguars quarterback Brandon Allen entered the game in Ward’s place on the next series. The Jags drafted Allen in the sixth round (No. 201) in 2016, although he never appeared in a regular-season game for Jacksonville.

With a victory, the Jaguars would clinch the AFC South and a first-round home assignment for the playoffs. The Titans were eliminated from postseason contention weeks ago.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)