Arizona Cardinals - Viernes 23/1/09

Super Bowl XLIII – Week 1

Friday After Practice 1/23/09


Cardinals Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley

On whether the team is ready for the Pittsburgh defense:

“I don’t know if you’re ever ready for that defense. Three weeks in a row now we have our work cut out for us.”


On the offense’s use of trick plays:

“We always have a couple and you always have a couple in your back pocket. It takes the right situation and most of those are off run plays and the way we’ve been running the football has helped us do a lot of things – that’s just one of them.”


On having Larry Fitzgerald helping with trick plays:

“That’s another reason that helps you do them.”


On what Edgerrin James’ resurgence has meant to the run game:

“I think Edge is a well-liked player on this team and guys gravitate towards him and they look up to him. They know he’s been around and know he’s accomplished a lot in the league in a lot of different areas. So when a guy like Edge is sitting on the bench, you see a lot of guys going to him, trying to keep his spirits up and not letting him get down and rallying around him. Our last talk as an offense before the Carolina game I put him right in the middle of the group and talked about him and what he’s gone through this year and that we’ve got to get it done. I think it’s meant a tremendous amount to us offensively and even to the whole team – the fact he’s in there running and being productive and helping us win.”


On Edge’s return helping Tim Hightower:

“Competition is great and the guys right now are really competing for playing time and they’re trying to make the most of all their carries and when they get an opportunity they’re trying to make the most of it. Hightower is a rookie and he’s been through a lot this year. He’s gotten a lot better – I’d agree with that – that as Edge has come back, it’s taken a little bit of the spotlight off of him and he’s been able to role play a little bit more and step up when he had to, which in the last game was huge at the end of the game on that last drive.”


On the origination of the gadget play in the Philadelphia game:

“That’s just a play that has been around. When I went to Dallas, Sean Payton had brought it from the Giants, I believe, and that goes on all the time. You keep the ones you like and we had called it a few times in Dallas. The name was ‘Philly Special’ and it originated against Philly and the type of defense they play in certain situations. But the Philly Special would probably not be any good any longer.”


On if any teams have contacted the Cardinals to talk to him:

“I have no idea – like I’ve told everybody else, I love my job here. I love the guy I work for (Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt) and the guys I work with and I love the guys I coach. Like I said, I’ve got five kids so the last thing I’m thinking about is moving anywhere – I’m just enjoying what’s going on right here and the fact we’ve been able to do something nobody else has been able to do.”


On whether he’s enjoying the spotlight being on him:

“I think it’s human nature to want to be patted on the back a little bit, but I’m not entirely comfortable with being in the spotlight – that’s not really my personality. But I know with success, some of that stuff comes along with it and I wouldn’t give back the success for a second, the wins that we’ve got or what we’ve been able to accomplish.”


On how he would describe Larry Fitzgerald’s personality:

“Quiet storm – I don’t know – that’s a good question. He’s very quiet and very low key, but very passionate about what he does and about trying to be great. I know that within a game, if Larry comes to me and says, ‘I’ve got you Coach, I’ve got you,’ I feel pretty good. When he’s been in that state of mind, he’s been able to back it up. He’s a good, good person that I enjoy being around.”


On the style of runs changing with Edge returning:

“I think we always kind of tailor to our players’ strengths – we do it at quarterback and we do it at receiver to try and do what they do best, within reason. But we’re also a game plan offense, meaning that we game plan each week. We have our bread and butter, but we’re always game planning and things that we see that someone else may do that might fit what we’re capable of doing or our personnel, that’s going to be first and foremost. And if a guy is really good at something, obviously we’re going to work that a little more.”


On how big of a factor he expects Fitzgerald to be in the game:

“I expect good players or great players to play big in big games and this is obviously the biggest game you can have. I would expect Larry to step up and play. I know Pittsburgh is going to have a great scheme to try and slow him down – it’s pretty clear he’s made a lot of plays for us – so I don’t think it’s going to be easy. But I think that’s part of the game – that he’s got to find a way to have success even though they’re trying to take success away from him. It’s not going to be easy and I don’t think it was easy last week and I don’t think it was easy the week before that – but Larry just makes it look easy at times. So even when he has two defenders on him, he’s so good that he makes it look easy.”


On the biggest challenge for his receivers when facing Pittsburgh’s defense:

“I think the biggest challenge will be what it has been the past few weeks: we have to get in and out of our routes. We can’t get disrupted or re-routed anyway and I think that’s important every week for us and when we’re playing well we do that well and when we’re not, we don’t do it so well.”


On the trust between Kurt Warner and the receivers:

“That trust has got to be there 100 percent, whether it’s the first game of the year, or the last game of the year. That’s what this is all about – what we do out on the practice field. We meet before practice and after practice; the quarterbacks and receivers meet again on their own once a week or twice a week. They meet in the morning ahead of time – and I don’t think you can have enough communication between the two. And even on the field we try to spend as much time with quarterbacks and receivers as we can, rather than receivers working by themselves or quarterbacks working by themselves. We try to get together because you can’t have enough trust. When the quarterback drops back and the heat is on and the pressure is coming, he has to trust that receiver is going to be where he thinks he’s going to be.”


On all the receivers being different:

“Everybody is different and I think that’s what makes guys special.”



Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald

On what type of messages Kurt Warner has had for the team this week:

“He’s just said there are a going to be a lot of people around all the time, the media, requests for family, all types of things. So he’s just said to try to get control of it early in the week so it’s not bothering you or distracting you later in the week when you really need to be getting focused for the game. I think guys are doing a good job of really focusing, coming to work and taking care of what we need to.”


On how he is handling dealing with the increased media attention:

“I’m just going to do what I’m obligated to do. I’m going to do my part, whatever (Cardinals Vice President of Media Relations) Mark (Dalton) tells me I have to do. I’ll be available.”


On what it’s been like seeing people talk about him so much on TV:

“Honestly, I don’t watch the TV too much. I don’t watch too much. I’m just really trying to focus on the task at hand. We’ve got a really good football team that we’re playing against in the Steelers next week, number one defense. That’s enough to keep you up at night. So, I’m watching a lot of tape, and we’re just preparing ourselves for this awesome defense.”


On what he did this offseason to improve:

“When you’re a rookie, I think your athletic level, your athleticism is way up here, but your knowledge of the game is way down here. So, every year, I haven’t lost any athleticism, but my knowledge of the game is just continuing to improve every year. I just think that’s the reason why I’m playing a little better now at this point. I know what I’m doing. I’m not out there just running go routes and trying to jump over guys.”


On if he focused on one specific thing more than others during this offseason:

“Definitely my run after catch was the thing I really needed to work on. It’s still not where I want it to be, but it’s a lot better than what it was. I want to continue to keep working on that aspect and a lot of other things as well.”


On what it means to have Edgerrin James back as a big part of the offense:

“Just his leadership ability is outstanding. The way he practices, he finishes runs, picks up pass protection, never complains, always on time, durable; you can continue to go on and on about Edge and what he brings to this team. His playoff experience has been valuable. We’re going to definitely lean on him next Sunday, and I know he’s going to come up big for us.”


On if they will have any trick plays ready for the Super Bowl:

“I think we’re going to definitely have some in the book. I don’t know if Coach is going to call it, but we’re definitely going to have a few plays at our disposal. That’s just the way we do it. It gives the defense a little bit more to prepare for every week when you have more things like that.”


On what he will say to people asking what makes him tick:

“If people ask what makes me tick, I would say winning. That definitely gets me excited and makes me happy. To be in this position is truly a blessing for everybody in this locker room. We’ve worked a long time, really hard, to be in this position. This is a fabulous opportunity, one that is not guaranteed to ever happen again. I think everybody in the locker room realizes that and is really dedicated to getting it done.”


On how he matches up against Pittsburgh’s secondary:

“I don’t know. I look forward to seeing how I match up next week. They have a tremendous secondary, a lot of good players. They have two cornerbacks that play the ball really well, three actually, with [William] Gay, he plays the ball extremely well, [Bryant] McFadden and Ike [Taylor]. They do a good job. Watching the film study, they go and break up a lot of balls. Troy [Polamalu] is flying all over the place, and [Ryan] Clark makes a lot of plays, tackles and forced fumbles. They have a lot of very talented, athletic guys in the secondary that know how to play the ball, and they capitalize on your mistakes.”


On Steelers S Troy Polamalu:

“He’s arguably the best safety in the business. He’s all over the field. He causes so much disruption, because you have to know where he’s at, and then right when you think he’s over here, he’s in your backfield or he’s picking off a play on the backside. He’s all over the place, and you have to identify where he’s at and try not to let him affect the game, because he does such a good job of disrupting it.”


On Kurt Warner’s faith in him to go up and make a play:

“I think that’s been acquired over the years. I think that I needed to continue to just do it for him in games and in crunch time. Over time, he’s gotten a little more confident in my ability to go up there and make that play, but it’s something that I always want to just make sure I’m doing it right so he has confidence to keep throwing it to me. It’s not natural for him to just throw it up. He likes to be able to see favorable positions, leverage and things like that. That makes him a little more comfortable, but I’m fortunate that he’s trusting me a little bit more.”


On how he responds to Mike Tomlin’s comment that he is the best in the world in one-on-one downfield situations:

“I have no idea. I’ve had a good playoffs, but that was last week, that was the week before. This is an even playing field, playing against the best defense in the world. I’m going to have my hands full with these guys, so I’m just looking forward to going out there, playing, competing, and trying to win a Super Bowl.”


On the key to his high-point catches:

“I think it’s combination of all of it. I wasn’t blessed with blazing speed. I’m not like Santonio Holmes or Nate Washington. I’m not running 4.2 and stuff like that, like those guys, so I had to develop other things that were going to be able to help me win down field. My jumping ability is definitely one of those, and my hands, I have strong hands to be able to pull it away from guys. I think those are definitely two of the strengths of my game.”


On how his grandfather helped him to see the ball better:

“When I was younger, my grandfather was an optometrist. He lives in Chicago, and every summer when I was growing up, we used to go back to Chicago. He used to do vision therapy with me, just a lot of different drills he would do to strengthen my hand-eye coordination. I think those skills definitely are paying dividends for me. My eyes are good, seeing the ball pretty well, and I think he had a hand in helping me get here.”


On his relationship with Steelers WR Hines Ward:

“I have such a great respect for Hines and what he’s been able to accomplish. He’s an outstanding person. I don’t think he gets enough credit for the things he does off the field in Pittsburgh and in Georgia. He just does a tremendous job with that. His toughness, his desire, his passion, the relationship he has with his teammates, all those things, I look at him and I really want to emulate some of the things he’s able to do. He’s so physical. He forces people to account for him in the run game. He makes big, clutch catches every single week. We saw the way he performed in the Super Bowl a few years ago, winning the MVP. He’s a big-time player. I just told him, I said, ‘Hines, you’ve already got a Super Bowl. It would be greedy for you to try to get two when I don’t have one yet. Just rest your knee, and just take it easy on us a little bit.’ He wasn’t going for it.”


On if he feels he is a better receiver than before or if he is just getting more attention now:

“I’m not where I want to be. I’m better than I was last year. I was better last year than I was the year before. I just want to continue to keep progressing and getting better. I’m not where I want to be, but I’m definitely a lot better than what I was last year, and I hope I’ll be better next year.”


On what ways he wants to get better:

“Just continue to work on the nuances of the game, being able to read coverages on the fly, being able to do more motion, being able to move inside a little bit more, just make me a little more versatile player. I think that would help my overall game.”


On if he came to training camp this season with more intensity than ever before:

“I knew this was going into my fifth year now. I think this was about that time where I needed to start being that really good football player instead of if he does this he’ll be better, if he does that he’ll become better. I just wanted to make sure I was doing all the little things to make me become a great player, which I’m still aspiring to be.”


On the key to his first-half success in the postseason:

“Well, we’re running the football really well. You look at all the games we’ve had so far, early on we’ve been able to control the line of scrimmage. When you’re able to control the line of scrimmage, you’re going to get favorable match-ups down the field, you’re going to get single coverage. Teams are not going to be able to play cover two. They’re going to have to bring their safeties down to stop the run. When we get in one-on-one match-ups, in this group, we pride ourselves on making the play. Fortunately, we’ve been able to make the plays thus far. I know there are going to be opportunities in the Super Bowl for us to make plays, and we have to do it when they come.”



Cardinals RB Edgerrin James

On the biggest challenge facing the Steelers’ defense:

“We just have to go out and play our game. Usually in games like this you have turnovers that will be an effect. We’re just going to go out and play our game and not worry about everything else. I don’t think anything else matters at this point in time.”


On what getting to the Super Bowl means to him:

“I think for anybody to get to the Super Bowl, that’s what you play for. You go out and get prepared in the offseason and to get to the Super Bowl I think is everybody’s goal, two teams only get there.”


On if it’s ironic he is going with the Cardinals instead of another team he’s played for:

“Yeah, it’s weird [laughs]. This has been a weird year.”


On what he’s looking forward to most about the whole experience:

“Just to play in the game. I’m looking forward to playing in the game. That’s the most important thing. I’m playing in a game I’ve never played in, the Super Bowl. This will be my first time playing in the Super Bowl, I just want to go out and play the game.”


On if it is extra special to get to the Super Bowl after a tough year:

“Any year you get to the Super Bowl [is special] because of how hard it is. The amount it takes to get to the Super Bowl makes it special for anybody.”


On what got the team rolling:

“I think we just put everything together. We were able to run the ball, throwing the passes, and everybody kind of came together. That’s the difference.”


On how they match up against the Steelers’ defensive line and linebackers:

“We’re alright. We’re not really concerned with their team. I think focusing on yourself [is most important]. That’s the approach I’ve always taken, just make sure we do our part and do what we’re supposed to do and put ourselves in a position to win the game.”


On how their last ranked rushing offense was able to run the ball so effectively in the postseason:

“We threw the ball 50 times. That’s easy right there. You throw the ball 50 times and you run the ball nine or 10 times you are most likely not going to have a good rushing game.”


On how he has affected the run game:

“I’ve always played the game a certain way. This is my style of play: mixing the pass and the run versus lining up to throw it every time. I’m no scat-back, I never tried to be.”


On how difficult this season was for him:

“It’s one of those things that you didn’t expect but you have to deal with it. I haven’t found anything that can rattle me yet. I just go and deal with it whatever cards I’m dealt. I just go out and play that hand.”


On how he’s feeling this point in the season:

“I feel like I always feel. I don’t think it’s because I haven’t played. If you ask the strength and conditioning coach about how I train and the different approach I’ve taken this year they would see why I’m playing the way I’m playing and why I am as strong as I am at this point in time.”


On if he feels different than past seasons at this point:

“I feel like I’ve always felt. I take good care of myself. I’m not going to agree with this because I haven’t played. I’ve trained and I’ve put myself in this position.”


On if this is his last season with the Cardinals:

“I’m not even focused on anything past this game. Anything beyond this game I’m not going to think about. I’m going to enjoy this weekend and go out and play this game.”


On offensive coordinator Todd Haley:

“Todd has done a good job. Todd has gotten better and better as we go and that’s the thing, you like someone that will actually let you have some input. Over the past so many weeks I’ve been giving him a list of runs that I like running. I think you play better when you actually make a suggestion and the coach listens to you. We’ve been running some of those plays that I’ve been comfortable with and we’ve been getting results.”


On throwing in trick plays vs. the Steelers:

“I just play old-fashioned football. You win these games by getting first downs and moving the chains and not having turnovers, that’s the most important thing. You can put in all the trick plays you want to but if you have turnovers the trick plays won’t do any good.”


On when he gave offensive coordinator Todd Haley his list of runs:

“After he got me off the bench [laughs].


On if Haley asked him for the plays:

“No, it’s just one of those things. I didn’t have anything to lose, so I said this is what I like. If they do it, cool, if they don’t, it’s one of those things when you don’t have anything to lose you say this is what I like to run. We have everything running pretty smooth now.”


On not firing back when he was put on the bench:

“In life you have to take the good with the bad. Everything’s not always going to be good. Playing football has always been easy for me, I never had to face any real adversity in football because I’ve always tried to outrun people and do everything the right way. This time, even though I took that same approach we went in a different direction. It’s not something that I’m going to sit up there and show off or try to be disruptive to the team. You have to go out and take it like a man. You have to take the good with the bad. When things aren’t that good I continued to come out here and tried to help [Tim] Hightower and the other running backs and do as much as I could.”


On if he is a different player because of that:

“It’s the same. You just go and look at the situation and figure out the best way to go about it. You have more free time. I ended up reading a ton of books [laughs]. I didn’t look at the playbook as much.”


On if this success changes his view on the Cardinals organization:

“No. The reason I came here was because I saw the potential of what this team could do. It’s not so much of the success. We put it together. I know I’m not crazy, this team is talented and has a lot of talent. For some reason, it just wasn’t coming together. Coach Whisenhunt and his staff and everybody came together and we got it rolling. You look at our roster versus any roster in the NFL and you will be happy with this roster player for player.”



Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett

On what kind of problems a quarterback as big as Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger can cause for a defensive line:

“He is hard to bring down. The first guy usually doesn’t bring him down. He can take two or three hits and still break off it and make a big play. The biggest thing for big guys is to stick with it. Just keep focused and running to him and do the best you can do because he is definitely a big object. Most guys think he is easy to bring down, but he is not like that. He makes a lot of plays by just bouncing off sacks and throwing the ball down field.”


On what kind of pressure having a mobile quarterback like Roethlisberger puts on the secondary:

“It puts a lot of pressure on them, but the D-line has a job to do and they need to do a good job at it. That is just holding the defensive line accountable because those guys back there have to cover. They don’t have time to cover and come up trying to make sacks. We have to do that on the D-line. That is the part about playing great defense.”


On if there is a special camaraderie between his draft class of Antonio Smith, Karlos Dansby and himself:

“We have definitely talked about that for the past two years. We hold a lot of pride in that. We definitely think that is the best class the Arizona Cardinals have ever had. We are going to stick to that. If anybody wants to prove me wrong, I’m going to sit down and have a discussion with them.”


On what Kurt Warner has meant for this team and its run to the Super Bowl:

“Kurt is a great leader, first of all. He holds himself accountable for everything he does wrong and everything he does well. I remember his exact words right after the Carolina game. I was saying, ‘Man, we are doing it. We are playing well.’ His exact words were, ‘It gets better than this. You wait until the Super Bowl because that is where we are going.’ I looked at him and was like, ‘Ok. That is where we’re going. We’re going to the Super Bowl.’ He came out and played excellent this season. We went through some ups and downs on the road, but most of all he kept this team together, kept this offense going. He speaks up on everything. I wouldn’t want to play with another quarterback but Kurt.”


On if he is approaching this week any differently with all of the excitement around the game:

“Football is football. You still have four quarters to play regardless of all the excitement. I think I have been playing long enough to know when to use the energy and when to not use the energy. It is going to be a physical game. You don’t have time to waste energy during practice to get over-excited. We have to be ready. We have to take this week and approach it like we are playing on Sunday. We are doing a good job here staying focused. That is the thing about it, staying focused until that game comes.”


On if the fact that President Barack Obama is rooting for the Steelers has any affect on him:

“That is cool. Again, he has his opinion and he wants his team to win. I’m pretty sure that there are probably more Steelers fans than Cardinals fans. At the end of the day, they have to play 60 minutes. I do have intentions to shake his hand at some point in my career. This might be the closest to an opportunity that I have. I am definitely going to keep that in mind during the game that I need to go to the White House.”


On if he feels obligated to prove the Cardinals’ doubters wrong:

“No. I just go out there and play. I’m not in this game to prove people wrong, especially critics. If there is anybody, I want to prove my coaches wrong that I can play at a high level. This team has stuck together through the ups and downs. We have just been going off fire and momentum. We go to work everyday as if we were practicing for the Super Bowl. That is what we have been doing the last four weeks, and that is what we are going to continue to do. Everybody else can have their opinions, and that’s cool. You can count us out. I actually heard somebody say that we are the worst Super Bowl team there was. One thing about it though is that we deserve to be here. We beat Atlanta. We beat Carolina. We beat the Eagles. Every last one of those teams, people picked us to lose. How can people think we are the worst Super Bowl team ever when we have proved (otherwise). We had to play 60 minutes just like every one of those teams, and we out-played them. So for somebody to say that we don’t deserve to be here, that’s cool, they just might not like the Cardinals. They might have a personal thing against us.”



Cardinals Locker Room

Cardinals RB Tim Hightower

On how he feels about being the backup to Edgerrin James:

“I like the role where it is right now. We compliment each other and we push each other. We challenge each other. That’s the way we put it. He challenged me in the Carolina game and I scored first, then I came and made a challenge to him and asked, ‘When are you going to score?’ He came out and scored next and kind of looked back at me kind of like, ‘What are you going to do?’ It doesn’t matter who is in the game, we know that the team is going to be better off. All season, we have been up and down, through a lot of adversity. Sometimes, you have to take a step down to take a step up. That is the way it was. We had to make sacrifices all year for the team, and now we are having opportunities to make the most of it.”


On if he has thought much about being on such a big stage:

“Oh, definitely. I don’t think anyone predicted this outcome. I think a lot of people don’t want this outcome. They don’t want to see a guy from a small school, no combine. Say whatever you want, (I) didn’t have the speed, didn’t have the skill, whatever it was. This just proves that this is where I am supposed to be. All things work out for the best. I’m in the place where I am supposed to be. At the end of the day when it is all said and done, all of the first round, second round, all the money, the 40-times; all that doesn’t mean a thing at the end of the day. We are the ones playing for the Super Bowl and I’m the one with the opportunity and fortunate enough to be on the team who has a chance to play for the Super Bowl. It was frustrating then, but I am loving it now.”



Cardinals S Antrel Rolle

On if playing away from home with likely a majority of Steelers fans will be a disadvantage:

“It doesn’t matter. We have played on the road. We might have had 1,000 fans there. It doesn’t matter. We are coming to play. The game still has to be played on Sunday no matter who is in the stands. At this point in time, it is all in. Either you come in first or you come in second, but who wants to come in second. Nobody remembers who comes in second. I can’t look at it that way. I have to look at it as we are coming here for a purpose. Going to the Super Bowl is great, but to me, it is nothing unless you win it.”


On if he still feels that the Cardinals are an underdog team:

“Oh yea, absolutely. We are definitely the underdog. It doesn’t matter to us. The media, the critics, the commentary, they can set whatever scoreboard that they have in their minds. At the end of the day, they don’t produce the outcome. The two teams on the field produce the outcome.”


On if he got any advice or inspiration from any other underdog teams or players he has watched in the past:

“I just watch ourselves. It doesn’t get too much worse than that. We are striving for a great game, trying to be the best that we can be as Arizona Cardinals. That is pretty much it.”