Cardinals scale back on hard knocks during COVID-19 camp
Lack of tackling at Cardinals’ camp is purposeful
Arizona Republic | USA TODAY NETWORK
It’s not as if there isn’t any serious physicality going on in Cardinals training camp, but when it comes to heavy hitting and tackling players to the ground, well, there just really isn’t any of it this year under second-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
There’s still time for some live action, particularly during 11-on-11 work, but the hard knocks have been scaled way back. And yes, it’s by design. At least for now.
The way Kingsbury see it, the Cardinals can learn and digest more without the benefit of preseason games because the team can get six straight uninterrupted days of work and study each week. In any other year, the preseason schedule would just get in the way of that from the standpoint of having a travel day, a recovery day and the preseason game itself.
Former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians used to refer to some of his own training camps as “Camp Cupcake,” but that was because of the lack of padded practices allowed in the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association.
Under Kingsbury this summer, players are not even allowed to throw a lick or two on the frosting.
It begs the question: Just how does he plan to get his team ready for the season opener against the 49ers in a little more than three weeks without any real hitting and no preseason games? How can he expect the Cardinals’ tackling to be sharp when they can’t bring a player to the ground?
“... We won’t have our quarterbacks hit prior to Week 1. And I know Kyler (Murray) is happy about that.” Kliff Kingsbury Cardinals coach
Some players, like former Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, said they needed to take a few hits to not only knock off some of the rust, but to get ready for the real thing. Considering this offseason was spent mostly on Zoom calls because of COVID-19, a certain amount of crushing contact seems as paramount as self-preservation.
“Yeah, that’s a great question,” Kingsbury said. “It’s uncharted territory for all these guys. I think we’re all trying to figure out where is that fine line where you want to get some physicality, you want to tackle to the ground and get some live work, but you want to be smart, be careful and make sure you get them all to the game as well.
“We’re all looking for that and we’ll pick our spots to do that, but we won’t have our quarterbacks hit prior to Week 1. And I know Kyler (Murray) is happy about that.”
No one wants to see the star quarterback get crumpled, but football players crave contact. Linebackers need to practice their craft of tackling. So, too, do defensive linemen and safeties. Remember a few years back when the Cardinals seemingly forgot how to tackle for an entire season? The next year, they said they should have spent more time tackling in the offseason.
If the Cardinals struggle with tackling in 2020, don’t be surprised if the conspiracy theories start to echo across the Valley. The same thing happened when Arians and Steve Wilks decided heavily against playing some of their key starters in the preseason. It happened last year, too, when Kingsbury refused to reveal any of his real offense until the real games began.
Again, it’s not like the Cardinals have suddenly prohibited any sort of hitting in camp. They’ve just decided to tone things down, at least during their first couple of weeks at State Farm Stadium.
“That’s one thing I was wondering how certain teams were going to handle camp this year,” running back Chase Edmonds said. “You have some camps where they’re still going to do live period and everything like that even without preseason games because you feel like, ‘OK, we do have to feel getting tackled to the ground. Defensive players have to tackle to the ground.’
“Some coaches are going to take the more conservative road. I think we have a delicate balance here. When we get it going during the 11-on-11 periods, we get it going a little bit. But then there’s also certain aspects where we’re taking care of each other. Like, I’m not going to cutblock a linebacker. And in no way are we having our linebackers completely bull rush the running backs.”
Evan Weaver, the Cardinals’ rookie inside linebacker, built a huge reputation for being a thunderous tackler in college. He led all FBS players in tackles last season and plays the game with a noticeable frenetic edge. Interestingly, however, he hasn’t found the scaledback contact to be an issue.
“It’s not too hard. It’s kind of how we practiced at Cal,” Weaver said. “You play the tempo that you’re in. If we’re in spiders (helmets, shorts and soft pads), it’s a jog through. … Full-speed periods (plays) end with a tap off on the back of the man who has the ball. Full pads, it’s go ’til coaches tell us otherwise.
“If you don’t know how to practice, you’re not going to last very long.”
Defensive line coach Brentson Buckner said the lack of full tackling the first couple weeks of camp won’t lead to poor fundamentals.
“Tackling is a want-to,” said Buckner, back with the Cardinals after one-year stints with the Buccaneers and Raiders. “I tell my guys, ‘Coaches don’t want you to tackle, but you can be physically punching your guy in the chest, separating, get in my gap, hold in double teams and when you find the ball you tear off and you run.’ We just don’t want to put the guy on the ground, but we can get all our work done.
“We can do things, physically. Hands in the chest. Getting on the edge. Making sure we’re staying square. Attacking the line of scrimmage. And then when it comes to real football, we’re going to have a walk through to get you on the ground. And when we first hunt, we’ve got to learn to hunt in packs. We’ve got to run to the ball like everybody is going to miss the tackle and somebody’s got to get it. We can’t just count on one guy doing it.”
It’s not really another “Camp Cupcake” for the Cardinals, although it may look and feel like it. It’s more about being smart, safe and successful with their time. “We’re working our feet, working our hands and everything like that,” Edmonds said. “It’s a good balance, man . ... ”