Cards players talk about their hands
Nearly every problem that continued to plague the Cardinals during their first eight games of the season always seemed to bring a similar refrain from coach Steve Wilks and his coordinators.
“We’ve got to do a better job using our hands,” Wilks must have said a hundred times.
Poor hand usage typically got blamed when the defensive line kept getting pushed out of its gaps and was surrendering huge chunks of rushing yards.
When the offensive line and skill players alike kept failing to maintain blocks in pass-protection situations, hands again were said to be at fault.
Incorrect hand technique by defensive backs, we were told, is what also kept leading to the steady stream of big splash plays down the field. Oh, and all those early dropped passes by the receivers? You guessed it. Hands.
If the eyes are truly the windows to the soul, then for football players, the hands are the cornerstones that either build success or deconstruct one to failure. They’re used deftly and differently from position to position, but make no mistake, an NFL player’s two most essential tools are his hands.
“Hands? Oh man, that’s like the main component of football is hands,” Cardinals defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche said.
azcentral sports sat down with Nkemdiche and three other Cardinals players to discuss how and why their hands are so critically important to what they specifically do on game days.
‘It’s a dirty (expletive) game’
For a defensive lineman like Nkemdiche, the Cardinals’ third-year pro and former first-round draft pick, hands are where it starts and where it ends.
“It’s all about leverage and if you don’t use your hands the way you need to, you’re going to negate yourself from being able to penetrate on the play,” he said. “There’s no perfect way to do it because everybody is different. You really just have to figure out what works best for you.”
One of Nkemdiche’s strengths is his brute strength, especially with his meat hook-sized, 103⁄4-inch hands.
“It’s a weapon,” he said, thrusting one hand up like a massive uppercut to the chin. “Hey, it’s fine if it’s nasty. Football is a dirty (expletive) game.”
‘Punching is everything’
Right guard Justin Pugh suffered a broken bone in his left hand four weeks ago in Minnesota and despite the pain, he was fitted with an assortment of casts and clubs in hopes he could get back on the field. Nothing quite worked, however, and only now does it look like he will be able play.
“If I can’t use my hand, if I can’t use my fingers so I can grab and hold on, I’m a liability out there,” Pugh said, adding, “Punching is everything for us. Our job is to disrupt the rush of the defensive linemen. Those guys obviously use their hands, but a lot of times they’re just lowering their helmet and bull rushing. That’s why D-linemen can play with a club on their hand. They don’t really use their fingers and thumbs and grab on as much as we do.”
‘You’ve got to be really sly’
No one seems to get singled out and called for more penalties than defensive players, particularly cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers. Just ask the Cardinals’ Budda Baker, who plays both defensive back positions and also dabbles here and there as a hybrid-like linebacker in certain scenarios.
“Hands are everything and with the way the league is right now with so many guys getting penalties and fines and that type of stuff, you really have to know how to use your hands the right way,” the second-year pro from Washington said.
For a player like Baker, who is going to have contact with receivers, tight ends, running backs and even offensive linemen, he tries to use his hands to push, punch and brace.
‘It doesn’t say ‘spectacular’ catch’
As ultra-important as his hands are to him, and on Sunday they can help him become second on the NFL’s alltime receiving yards list behind only Jerry Rice, Fitzgerald said they come second on his list of priorities.
“They’re the most important thing besides my head,” he said. “I’m using my head more than anything out there, just thinking about watching coverages, recognizing what teams are trying to do to me, watching what’s going on and what I have to do and what adjustments I have to make on every single play.”
The one thing Fitzgerald tries to stay away from, even though he’s great at it, is the one-handed grab. Odell Beckham Jr. of the Giants might have made it popular among today’s young NFL fans, but Fitzgerald was doing it years ago – as a last resort.
“I try to catch every single ball I possibly can with two hands,” Fitzgerald said.