azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Notebook: Boldin listed as doubtful but personally "optimistic"
By DARREN URBAN
Wide receiver Anquan Boldin could miss Sunday's game in St. Louis -- but it isn't certain yet as long as he progresses over the weekend.
There have been mousetraps hung from the ceiling and talk of trap games and the need to prove themselves both on the road and with a winning streak.
That, coach Ken Whisenhunt said, should be enough to have the Cardinals mentally prepared for their game in St. Louis Sunday against a injury-decimated Rams team that has an 0-4 record.
“We have had a good week of practice,” Whisenhunt said. “(But) you never know how they will play Sunday. The focus in practice has been good and hopefully that will translate.
“We beat a good football team which was good but it doesn’t mean anything if you lose the next week.”
Winning on the road has been a long-standing issue for the Cardinals, something the veteran players have not forgotten.
“We have to win on the road,” defensive end Darnell Dockett said. “We are 6-48 on the road. I don’t know if y’all know that but I know that. I know we don’t win a lot of road games. I know it will be a big challenge for us. We don’t think it will be easy. It’s going to be a bloodbath. We are going to get everything they got.”
It’s not quite as bad as Dockett said – since 2000, the Cards are 11-47 away from home – but the Cardinals have already made significant strides in two road games this season despite two losses. Both came by only three points.
The Rams emphasized their problems Friday when they added three more players as out on their injury list to the four that were already there (the injury report can be found here).
But the Cards must win Sunday and not give back the gains they made by beating Pittsburgh last week.
“We are sitting pretty good right now, but this game coming up is one of the most important games, because we are playing a desperate team and it is a division game on the road,” running back Edgerrin James said. “If everyone is content that they beat the Steelers, they beat an undefeated team, then it will come back to bite you.”
LEVI OUT, BUT HOW ABOUT Q?
Tackle Levi Brown, with his ankle sprain, is out for Sunday. That is known.
As for receiver Anquan Boldin and the sore muscle near his hip, the Cards are keeping everyone guessing.
Technically, Whisenhunt has listed Boldin as doubtful, and he said that was an accurate description. It makes sense, because Boldin missed practice again Friday, Whisenhunt prefers not to play players who haven’t practiced all week, and the Cardinals already proved they can win a game without Boldin when they have to do so.
But, Whisenhunt said the Cardinals will see how Boldin feels Sunday morning and that over the past two days “he has made significant progress.”
Boldin, meanwhile, called himself “optimistic” he could play and said he had done some running Friday.
Whisenhunt smiled when asked if Boldin would declare himself OK when he really wasn’t.
“It’s funny, because I know Anquan would play if at all possible,” Whisenhunt said. “That’s the type of competitor he is. He understands we have to be smart. But you never want to say a guy like that isn’t going to play. He is too tough where you just can’t say he’s out.”
Boldin said it would be Whisenhunt’s decision if he could play. But when he was asked if he might fudge his answer Sunday morning to get on the field, Boldin laughed.
“I plead the fifth,” he said.
WARNER’S ROLE
Whisenhunt said the coaching staff goes into each game with a rough plan on when to use Kurt Warner as quarterback in relief of Matt Leinart, but it changes based on circumstances.
One circumstance that hasn’t played into the planning this week is Warner’s St. Louis history and the possibility Warner could play against the team he led to a Super Bowl title.
“It hasn’t crossed my mind,” Whisenhunt said. “I have heard about it, I know how well he is received in St. Louis but I have never really thought about it that way.”
IT’S CARDINALS FOOTBALL
When the Cardinals came away with their win last week against Pittsburgh – and given Whisenhunt’s background as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator – many said the Cards had won, with the running game and defense, playing “Steelers football.”
That, however, is not how running back Edgerrin James sees it.
"We can sit up there and say it is Cardinals football," James said. "I can't see us being like the Steelers because we have Anquan and Fitz and there is no way we can be like the Steelers. When we came out in the fourth quarter and did the play-action to Fitzgerald (a 38-yard gain), that showed we are not some other team. We will have our own identity, and people will acknowledge us for being the Cardinals."
Contact Darren Urban at [email protected]. Posted 10/5/07
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1971
By DARREN URBAN
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Wide receiver Anquan Boldin could miss Sunday's game in St. Louis -- but it isn't certain yet as long as he progresses over the weekend.
There have been mousetraps hung from the ceiling and talk of trap games and the need to prove themselves both on the road and with a winning streak.
That, coach Ken Whisenhunt said, should be enough to have the Cardinals mentally prepared for their game in St. Louis Sunday against a injury-decimated Rams team that has an 0-4 record.
“We have had a good week of practice,” Whisenhunt said. “(But) you never know how they will play Sunday. The focus in practice has been good and hopefully that will translate.
“We beat a good football team which was good but it doesn’t mean anything if you lose the next week.”
Winning on the road has been a long-standing issue for the Cardinals, something the veteran players have not forgotten.
“We have to win on the road,” defensive end Darnell Dockett said. “We are 6-48 on the road. I don’t know if y’all know that but I know that. I know we don’t win a lot of road games. I know it will be a big challenge for us. We don’t think it will be easy. It’s going to be a bloodbath. We are going to get everything they got.”
It’s not quite as bad as Dockett said – since 2000, the Cards are 11-47 away from home – but the Cardinals have already made significant strides in two road games this season despite two losses. Both came by only three points.
The Rams emphasized their problems Friday when they added three more players as out on their injury list to the four that were already there (the injury report can be found here).
But the Cards must win Sunday and not give back the gains they made by beating Pittsburgh last week.
“We are sitting pretty good right now, but this game coming up is one of the most important games, because we are playing a desperate team and it is a division game on the road,” running back Edgerrin James said. “If everyone is content that they beat the Steelers, they beat an undefeated team, then it will come back to bite you.”
LEVI OUT, BUT HOW ABOUT Q?
Tackle Levi Brown, with his ankle sprain, is out for Sunday. That is known.
As for receiver Anquan Boldin and the sore muscle near his hip, the Cards are keeping everyone guessing.
Technically, Whisenhunt has listed Boldin as doubtful, and he said that was an accurate description. It makes sense, because Boldin missed practice again Friday, Whisenhunt prefers not to play players who haven’t practiced all week, and the Cardinals already proved they can win a game without Boldin when they have to do so.
But, Whisenhunt said the Cardinals will see how Boldin feels Sunday morning and that over the past two days “he has made significant progress.”
Boldin, meanwhile, called himself “optimistic” he could play and said he had done some running Friday.
Whisenhunt smiled when asked if Boldin would declare himself OK when he really wasn’t.
“It’s funny, because I know Anquan would play if at all possible,” Whisenhunt said. “That’s the type of competitor he is. He understands we have to be smart. But you never want to say a guy like that isn’t going to play. He is too tough where you just can’t say he’s out.”
Boldin said it would be Whisenhunt’s decision if he could play. But when he was asked if he might fudge his answer Sunday morning to get on the field, Boldin laughed.
“I plead the fifth,” he said.
WARNER’S ROLE
Whisenhunt said the coaching staff goes into each game with a rough plan on when to use Kurt Warner as quarterback in relief of Matt Leinart, but it changes based on circumstances.
One circumstance that hasn’t played into the planning this week is Warner’s St. Louis history and the possibility Warner could play against the team he led to a Super Bowl title.
“It hasn’t crossed my mind,” Whisenhunt said. “I have heard about it, I know how well he is received in St. Louis but I have never really thought about it that way.”
IT’S CARDINALS FOOTBALL
When the Cardinals came away with their win last week against Pittsburgh – and given Whisenhunt’s background as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator – many said the Cards had won, with the running game and defense, playing “Steelers football.”
That, however, is not how running back Edgerrin James sees it.
"We can sit up there and say it is Cardinals football," James said. "I can't see us being like the Steelers because we have Anquan and Fitz and there is no way we can be like the Steelers. When we came out in the fourth quarter and did the play-action to Fitzgerald (a 38-yard gain), that showed we are not some other team. We will have our own identity, and people will acknowledge us for being the Cardinals."
Contact Darren Urban at [email protected]. Posted 10/5/07
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/detail.php?PRKey=1971
