Miami coach Mario Cristobal tried to explain why quarterback Cam Ward didn’t play in the second half of Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl by not explaining it at all.
Ward didn’t finish out the bowl game loss to Iowa State, which presumably had to do with the unnecessary injury risk ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
To be blunt, Ward not playing in the second half shouldn’t be a big deal.
However, Cristobal didn’t exactly help out Ward by giving a frustrating non-answer when asked by the South Florida Sun Sentinal’s Adam Lichtenstein about why the decision was made to keep the quarterback out of the second half.
If you’re left scratching your head, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
“I think all meetings with players and decisions like that, we make them in private, and we keep them in private,” Cristobal said. “So I’ll prefer not to answer questions as it relates to that. I know he played his best while he was in there.”
I asked Mario Cristobal about how he and Cam Ward came to the decision for Ward to play one half. Here is the full quote.
I don't believe Cam Ward has discussed why he opted to play in the bowl game. He has not been made available to local media since the Syracuse game. pic.twitter.com/lkKxwCZK5x
— Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) December 29, 2024
Cristobal’s job is to protect Ward, and this is probably how the best felt to address the situation. However, it shouldn’t be a big deal to just share why Ward didn’t finish the game… or better yet, let Ward share it himself.
This is a completely unnecessary controversy brewing for Ward and Miami ahead of the former potentially going first in the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s understandable why Cristobal was vague, but his answer didn’t help.
