By Seth Pollack

– Regional Sports Editor

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Aug 25, 2011 – The Arizona Cardinals are back in their comfy, air conditioned homes. After four weeks of training camp in Flagstaff and two road preseason games, the team is happy to be back in Phoenix, even if the thermometer is approaching, “Crazy Hot” level. The Cardinals will now host their first NFL game of the 2011 preseason when the San Diego Chargers come to University Stadium on Saturday evening, 7:00 p.m. local time.

“They’re ready to go. Ready to get back to the routine of the in-season with their families and I can’t blame them,” head coach Ken Whisenhunt said Thursday morning about his players after their final training camp practice in Flagstaff.

Thanks to the 54th consecutive sellout for the Cardinals since moving into University of Phoenix Stadium in 2006, the game will be broadcast live on local television on ABC channel 15. Rich Cellini will have the play-by-play with Glenn Parker providing analysis and the always brilliant Jody Jackson on the sideline. 

Week 3 of the NFL preseason is typically the most “real game” of the four exhibition games. Teams will play their starters into the second half and use more of their regular season looks. We can expect to see Kevin Kolb do exactly that and we can only imagine Chargers QB Philip Rivers will also play at least two full quarters.

Both the Cardinals and Chargers are 1-1 on the preseason and both are coming off a 2010 season without a playoff appearance. The Chargers, of course, were a much better team than last year’s Cardinals but the players are anxious to have the opportunity to prove something in this game. Several mentioned wanting to give the Arizona fans reason to be hopeful for this season wash away the bad memories of last year.

Coach Whisenhunt, however, played down expectations. ”You’ve got to be careful about how much emphasis you put on what’s going to happen in this game. We want to play well and we want to win, there’s no question about that, but you got to realize too that we’re going to do some things in this game that we’ve never done in live action before.”

What the Cardinal’s coach is looking for is reduction in the penalties and mistakes. If that happens, he says, “then we’ve gotten better as a team and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The Cardinals will be without S Adrian Wilson (bicep) and CB Michael Adams (knee). QB John Skelton (ankle) is unlikely and rookies TE Rob Housler (groin) and WR DeMarco Sampson (hamstring) will be evaluated again before the game. 

Read More: 2011 nfl preseason schedule, Kevin Kolb (QB – ARI), St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP)—Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson(notes) has a torn
right biceps tendon and will try to rehabilitate the injury to avoid surgery
that would sideline him for a longer period.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt would give no timetable for Wilson’s return other than
to say expects the four-time Pro Bowler to play this season.

Wilson didn’t talk to reporters after Monday morning’s practice but
reportedly has told people he believes he will be ready for the team’s Sept. 11
opener against Carolina. The 31-year-old Wilson, who has played all 10 of his
NFL seasons with Arizona, was injured in Saturday’s scrimmage while attempting
to tackle running back Beanie Wells(notes).

The Cardinals have re-signed safety Matt Ware(notes) and waived injured tackle Brad
Thorson(notes).

Read More: Matt Ware (S – ARI), Adrian Wilson (S – ARI), Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are back at it Monday morning on the practice field and safety Adrian Wilson is reportedly rehabbing and working out on the sidelines. This comes as big news, especially after John Clayton tweeted that Wilson likely wouldn’t need surgery. 

This is more good news for both the Cardinals and Wilson. After some feared there was severe damage to his elbow, it appears to be OK and not damaged enough to require surgery. This is undoubtably the best case scenario and hopefully Wilson will be back on the field in the near future.

Matt Ware practices:

Recently signed safety Matt Ware was at Cardinals camp on Monday practicing with the team, according to Craig Morgan. While Cardinals Nation would love to have Wilson available, Ware will be serving as backup option and the team needs him to be ready. Wilson’s history with injuries isn’t exactly stellar. 

Read More: Arizona Cardinals

Late last week, less than a week into training camp, Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson picked up an undetermined injury that forced him off the practice field. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that injury has turned out to be a torn muscle in his biceps, and Wilson would like to play through the injury without sitting out or having surgery. The initial diagnosis indicates that this should be possible, but Wilson is seeking a second opinion to make sure that the damage is not worse than initially believed.

A 10-year NFL veteran, Wilson is a four-time Pro Bowler who has played in all 16 games seven times in his career. Over the last two seasons, he has started every single game for the Cardinals. The NFC West is believed to be a wide-open division with no team looking like a playoff lock, so one big event like a serious injury to a Pro Bowl player from any team could seriously change the divisional standings.

For more on Wilson’s injury and the Cardinals, head over to SB Nation Arizona and Revenge of the Birds.

Read More: cardinals injury report, Adrian Wilson (S – ARI), Arizona Cardinals

Adrian Wilson of the Arizona Cardinals looked like he could’ve been in deep trouble after suffering a hit to the right elbow on Saturday. The injury was serious enough to the safety that it required an MRI. Usually an injury to that location could mean a break or a tear, the later which could’ve meant surgery and thus many weeks off from playing football. This appears to not be the case.

John Clayton of ESPN tweeted that Wilson will not need surgery on either his bicep or elbow, although no official report will come out until Monday (which is why this is still a rumor). Non-surgical rehab is looking more likely according to multiple sources. Wilson is one of the toughest characters in the league, and it’s no surprise that he will be able to return to action as soon as he possibly can. Matt Ware was signed though, so Wilson might still be out for some time.

For more on Arizona Cardinals training camp, go to Revenge of the Birds.

Read More: Adrian Wilson (S – ARI), Arizona Cardinals

While the results of Adrian Wilson’s elbow MRI have not yet been revealed, there is some hope inside the Arizona Cardinals’ organization that the safety will be able to play this season. According to KTAR’s Paul Calvisi, there is some train of thought that Wilson may not require surgery and just undergo rehab.

If that were the case, Wilson could “still play most of season,” but that is still vague. Is that a game or two, maybe three? Wilson is a leader on the defense and a mentor to many of the younger players on the team. Missing more than the first few games of the season could cause issues for a team that will look to get off to a hot start. New quarterback Kevin Kolb alone won’t win games for the Cards if the defense founders early on.

But results of Wilson’s MRI are likely to come out on Monday, which will help determine the future course of Wilson’s recovery. Cardinals fans who are holding their breath right now will hopefully let out a sigh of relief on Monday.

For more on Wilson’s injury and the Cardinals, head over to SB Nation Arizona and Revenge of the Birds.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Optimism should have ruled the day at Saturday’s Red-White scrimmage.

Darnell Dockett and Daryl Washington made big defensive plays. Larry Fitzgerald added to his legend with an over-the-shoulder touchdown grab. Quarterback Kevin Kolb continued to impress with throws the team has not seen since Kurt Warner retired.

But a potentially serious injury to strong safety Adrian Wilson overshadowed a cloudless day in northern Arizona.

Wilson suffered an elbow/biceps injury early in practice and left the field in obvious pain with his elbow wrapped in ice. He was scheduled to have an MRI on Saturday night, but the Cardinals are off until Monday, so a report might be unavailable before then.

Speculation was running wild that it might be a torn biceps, an injury that could shelve Wilson for significant time. The Cards were thin at safety already and moved quickly to re-sign Matt Ware, who was with the team last season.

Wilson had a down year in 2010 but still made his fourth Pro Bowl. With a new defensive system and a return to health — he played most of last season with a torn abductor muscle — he was being counted on heavily for leadership and his old brand of play. His loss would be a crippling early blow to a team trying to rebound from a 5-11 season.

There were bright spots Saturday. Washington, cornerback A.J. Jefferson and Dockett all had interceptions — with Dockett’s coming after he batted a Kolb pass.

Washington also stuffed a run play and backpedaled to break up a pass, showing the versatility, range and playmaking ability that has the Cards so excited about the bulked-up inside linebacker.

On offense, running back Beanie Wells continues to show the burst he had in healthy portions of his rookie season in 2009, but he also appeared to miss a pair of assignments in pass protection.

Kolb threw a couple of interceptions, but he also threaded a perfect ball to tight end Todd Heap over the middle, putting it where only Heap could catch it in full stride. And then there was the Fitzgerald TD pass. Kolb lofted a deep ball to the back pylon with Fitzgerald’s back turned. Fitzgerald located the ball by looking up while still running, adjusted to its flight and hauled it in to delight a crowd that Flagstaff police estimated at 13,000.

“I liked the way we threw the ball,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “I wasn’t happy about the interceptions, but we made some good accurate throws, made some catches, competed for the ball and made good reads.”

On a glorious, sunny day in Northern Arizona, the Arizona Cardinals might have lost one of those most important players for a significant amount of time.

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Profile: Adrian Wilson | Cardinals camp | Fans at camp | Full schedule

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Strong safety Adrian Wilson suffered an injury to his right bicep/elbow area during a full-team period early in practice. Wilson walked off the field with the elbow wrapped in ice and was going to undergo an MRI late Saturday.

There is some fear that the muscle might be torn, which would require surgery.

It’s too early to tell how much time Wilson might miss, but all the Cardinals weren’t completely off the practice field when someone from the front office called safety Matt Ware, an unrestricted free agent. Ware will sign, pending a physical.

The loss of Wilson for any amount of time is a huge blow, even though Wilson is coming off a down season. He is expected to thrive in the new scheme installed by coordinator Ray Horton.

Even with Wilson, the Cardinals had little depth at safety. Rashad Johnson replaced Wilson after the injury on Saturday. The team also has Hamza Abdullah and now Ware.

The Cardinals are off on Sunday and might not have release definitive news about Wilson until Monday.

In other injury news, cornerback Mike Adams missed practice with knee trouble. Adams has some swelling in a knee, but is experiencing no pain or discomfort, Whisenhunt said. Adams wanted to practice, but was held out. It’s possible he could undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair what doctors think could be a meniscus problem.

It’s hoped that Adams will not miss much time.

I had no idea this was going on in Flagstaff, site of the Arizona Cardinals training camp, but it is. The Arizona Cardinals are, apparently, fond of the Segway. So fond, in fact, that Darnell Dockett, Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes have formed a Segway crew.

If there’s one man that can pull of a Segway without looking completely out of place, it’s probably Darnell Dockett. The only disappointing part of Dockett’s ride is the lack of a place to put his pet alligator, Nino.

Don’t lie: It would be pretty awesome to see Dockett lead the Cardinals out of the tunnel on his off-road Segway.

Unlike the rest of the crew, Larry Fitzgerald practices safe Seg, wearing his helmet while off-roading around the practice fields.

This isn’t a new thing for the Cardinals, but it doesn’t make the pictures any less awesome. Can’t wait til the Cards have Segway jousting battles during camp.

Mike Jurecki of XTRA910 radio in Phoenix lends credence to percolating rumors that the Arizona Cardinals would consider trading Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a one-time Pro Bowl cornerback, to the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Kevin Kolb.
Why such a move appeals: Quarterbacks are more valuable than cornerbacks. Arizona needs a quarterback, badly. Rodgers-Cromartie is coming off a down year. He’s slight of frame, has had knee surgery and isn’t an ideal fit for new defensive coordinator Ray Horton, who favors cornerbacks with stronger tackling instincts. Arizona would remain talented at cornerback after using the fifth overall choice in the 2011 draft for Patrick Peterson. The team already has large sums invested in its secondary after securing strong safety Adrian Wilson with a lucrative deal. Arizona could pick up a free agent such as Ike Taylor, who played for Horton in Pittsburgh. The Eagles would be getting one of the more talented young cover corners in the league.

Why such a move carries risks: Rodgers-Cromartie is a proven Pro Bowl-caliber talent. He can be a special player. Kolb has had a few good games, but if the Eagles thought he were on his way to becoming an elite quarterback, they wouldn’t consider trading him. They’re willing to trade Kolb precisely because they know he’s a good prospect, not a great one. If the Cardinals kept Rodgers-Cromartie and traded a draft choice, even a 2012 first-rounder, they would come out ahead in the short term — and possibly the long term as well. Any team would be fortunate to land a player with Rodgers-Cromartie’s talent and demonstrated abilities in the first round of future drafts.

Arizona Cardinals update:

Football Outsiders continues to churn out interesting analysis/statistics from the 2010 season. The latest is this story on missed tackles.

Four Cardinals are among the 28 players who missed at least 10 tackles, according to Football Outsiders. As FBO’s Aaron Schatz notes in the piece, the analysis is subjective, both in the definition of missed tackle and the judgment used in evaluating games.

As noted in the story, it was surprising to see strong safety Adrian Wilson ranked second with 16 broken tackles. (Titans safety Michael Griffin was first with 17). Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes had 11 and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had 10.

Wilson’s numbers were surprising because he is known as an excellent tackler, and FBO had him with only two missed tackles in 2009. Wilson has admitted that 2010 was far from his best season. He struggled in pass coverage and wasn’t the force he had been in the past.

Some perspective is needed, however, when evaluating the Cardinals defense. Its performance was terrible, no question. But it should be noted, too, that the Cardinals were better on offense in 2009 and possessed the ball an average of about four minutes longer per game than they did in 2010. This defense spent too much time on the field and was often in poor situations because of the anemic offense.

Second, Wilson has some pretty good company on the list, incuding Bucs corner Ronde Barber, Titans linebacker Stephen Tulloch and Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs. Corners, safeties and linebackers often play in “space”, so it’s understandable they will have move missed tackles than defensive linemen.

Rhodes played well overall last season, but if there’s area of his game that can improve, it’s open-field tackling. Lenon is undersized for the position he played most of the year, strong inside linebacker, and he was on the field an awful lot.

Rodgers-Cromartie’s 10 miss tackles are an obvious area of concern. DRC is not a willing tackler, nor is he a very good one when he is willing. FBO had him with 43 tackles last seson, while the team’s officials stats credit him with only 29.

DRC knows tackling is the weakest part of his game, and said earlier this off-season that he’s trying to add some muscle in an attempt to improve.

Overall, nitpickers can argue with facets of FBO reports. But when a team has four players with double-digit missed tackles, it’s obvious there is a problem. Not all of the Cardinals defensive problems can be blamed on a bad offense.

Several of the Cardinals best defenders played poorly in 2009. Fixing that will be new coordinator Ray Horton’s priority. It would help, of course, if he could actually meet and coach those players.

 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 10:28 AM

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Arizona Cardinals update:

Receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who organized the Cardinals’ informal workouts this spring, has left for his lake home in Minnesota, but many of his teammates are carrying on without him. Fitzgerald still plans to hold his annual camp for NFL players some time in July.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals workouts have been moved from Arizona State to Scottsdale Community College, and the team’s quarterbacks and many of its young receivers are working together.

Very few defensive players have attended the workouts, but I’m hearing many of them have been working out together in Scottsdale for several weeks now. Strong safety Adrian Wilson is a strong force behind that group.

Overall, the Cardinals have had great attendance at their sessions. That might result in no additional victories in 2011, but it’s better than everyone staying home in the morning to eat biscuits and gravy.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee did a league-wide survey and found players are handling informal workouts in a variety of ways. Teams with the best attendance, he found, have strong team leaders and/or are located in cities with warm weather. The Packers have had no organized workouts. Packer receiver Greg Jennings did attend Fitzgerald’s sessions in Tempe, however.

In other words, it’s easier to stay in Phoenix in March and April than it is Green Bay.

In the NFC West, the Seahawks have yet to conduct a team workout. The Rams had about 35 players at workouts last week and plan to have another round in June. The 49ers have had a core of 12 to 15 players working out together.

What does all this mean? Obviously that the Cardinals are going to win the NFC West and spank the Packers in the playoffs.

Or maybe not.

 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 02:27 PM

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Arizona Cardinals update:

Strong safety Adrian Wilson recent underwent surgery to repair a torn abductor, according to Mike Jurecki of XTRA-910.

Wilson told Jurecki that the rehabiliation period was from three to seven weeks.

Jurecki reported that Wilson told him he had played with the injury the entire 2010 season.

Wilson played in every game, but it was one of his least productive seasons. He struggled in coverage for much of the season, prompting considerable criticism from media and fans.

I can’t remember Wilson ever being on the injury report for an abductor injury, which apparently is in the groin and hip injury. Throughout the season, he insisted he was healthy and refused to blame injuries for his play.

The Cardinals could not immediately confirm that Wilson had undergone surgery, but it makes sense for Wilson to have done it by this week. If the collective bargaining agreement is allowed to expire on March 3, players lose benefits, including health care.

Wilson’s injury puts him the same company as center Lyle Sendlein. An odd connection, I know. But Sendlein suffered a severe left shoulder injury in the second game of the 2008 season, yet played through it. His effectiveness was hampered by a lack of strength in his left arm and shoulder, and he was criticized at times for poor play.

Reporters didn’t know about the injury until after the season.

Like Wilson, Sendlein did not appear on the injury report because he practiced fully each day and apparently was in no danger of missing a game.

 

 

Even Adrian Wilson was “shocked” to learn his 2010 season produced a Pro Bowl berth — as a starter, no less.

This was a down season for the Arizona Cardinals and for Wilson in particular. The hard-hitting strong safety appeared miscast in coverage, sometimes to an alarming degree.

The Cardinals’ next defensive coordinator must maximize Wilson’s strengths while better masking his weaknesses. Acquiring younger, more active players at outside linebacker would surely help. Improved play at cornerback, particularly from the talented Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, would also take pressure off the safeties.

Wilson remains a dominant physical presence near the line of scrimmage. I cannot think of a more violent defensive back in the NFL right now, with the possible exception of Troy Polamalu. Some of the plays Wilson makes — and I’ll cover a couple here — rival what Pittsburgh’s James Harrison and San Francisco’s Patrick Willis achieve as linebackers.

Wilson provided fresh imagery during an otherwise forgettable Cardinals performance against the 49ers in Week 17. The playoffs and coaching turnover had prevented me from watching that game as closely as usual until this week. I watched it Tuesday night and saw a veteran player taking out his frustrations.

Two plays stood out:

• Wilson brought down 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree high and from behind with such force that I recalled the time Warren Sapp destroyed Jerry Rice’s knee in 1997. Crabtree was fortunate Wilson did not trap his legs underneath him during the play. This looked like an adult lion tackling a baby antelope.
• Wilson saved his most violent hit of the game for 49ers running back Brian Westbrook. Alex Smith threw for Westbrook on second-and-10 in the second quarter. Wilson extended his left arm across Westbrook’s neck and slammed him into the ground on his upper back. Westbrook was shaken.

Good quarterbacks will find ways to exploit safeties lacking in coverage skills. That happened at Wilson’s expense too frequently in 2010.

But as I watched this Cardinals-49ers game, I kept thinking there must be a prominent role within a successful defense for a player with Wilson’s abilities. It’s up to the Cardinals to find one, and it’s Wilson’s job to become a more well-rounded player.