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http://www.giants.com/news/transcripts/story.asp?story_id=8411
Transcript: Cardinals Conference Calls
Head Coach Dennis Green talks with local media.
September 7, 2005
Re: Can you tell me a little bit about how Marcel Shipp has come back from his injury and what has impressed you about him in the preseason?
Marcel’s done well. He had the injury that kept him out for the entire year. It was a couple of different injuries in one ankle, but he feels good. He’s coming back and he’s looking pretty good.
Re: How close is he to being 100 percent?
That is hard to say. I think he obviously runs with a little bit of a limp right now, but I think it’s healed as it’s going to get and he’s ready to play on it.
Re: Based on the fact that he’s running with a little bit of a limp and everything, were you impressed with what he did in the preseason? He was your leading rusher and ran for about 6 yards a carry, too?
Yeah, he did a good job. I don’t think that very many people pay a lot of attention to statistics. Probably the top receivers in the NFL probably didn’t collectively catch 20 passes, but I think he did a solid job.
Re: What kind of role do you see him playing in the offense this year with J.J. Arrington ahead of him?
It depends. We’ve got three backs. We only kept three running backs. So, all three of those backs will play. Marcel Shipp. James Jackson has been a solid starter in the NFL, who played for Cleveland. So, all three of the running backs will play. Those are the only three that we have on our roster.
Re: How impressed have you been with his work ethic and how he really hasn’t complained about anything the entire time you have been there? Can you talk about what you have seen with him in that respect?
Well, I think we didn’t have many guys in the program before we got here. The guys we do have here – guys like Marcel Shipp, James Darling, Leonard Davis, guys that have been around here a while – they have done a good job. I think they are very determined to turn the program around and any role they can play in that turnaround, I think they are excited about.
Re: Can you tell me about linebacker Gerald Hayes’ injury and when you might expect him back?
I think it’s going to be a minimum of maybe five or six more weeks. Gerald was a starting middle linebacker for us. We have not put him on injured reserve. We are hopeful that the injury will be able to heal. Any time you start talking about seven or eight weeks into the regular season, that’s a little bit of a risk. But right now, I want to take that risk.
Re: How had he played before he got hurt there? I know you had put him into the starting lineup at middle linebacker. How had he played before that?
Good job. He played both middle and weakside linebacker for us last year. We think middle linebacker is his more normal position and he was a solid player for us.
Re: When you look at the Giants, they are markedly different, if not improved? What do you focus on first, the offense or the defense? Where have they impressed you?
Well, they are very impressive defensively, extremely physical. They have a lot of real physical players. Linebackers are some of the biggest in the NFL and probably some of the most physical. All the secondary are over 195 pounds. So, physical defense is obviously Tom’s style of play. Offensively, I think you have to worry about Tiki Barber at all times. I mean the kind of year he had last year just kind of went along with all of the years he had before, but they might have been a little bit unnoticed maybe. I think they also have the speed at receiver. They are a team I think that is much better than the team we beat last year.
Re: Have you seen enough of Brandon Jacobs to have an opinion?
Yeah, I think he’s talented. You get yourself in a situation where you have guys who can go out there and make plays and find a way to make plays. We have got ourselves in a situation now where we just got to get ourselves on the field and work it. I think if you look at our football team, we’ve made a lot of progress. How much progress? I think we made a lot. But, I think we still have a lot of work to do.
Re: Has Kurt Warner been helpful to you in explaining some details about the Giants?
I really haven’t gotten into that. I think that we have played against each other a lot in the NFL. I think everybody gets their philosophical approach based on who’s the coordinator, who’s the head coach, and what they like to do. That’s really what we focus on.
Re: It’s been a long time since the Cardinals have come into a season with such high expectations and respect. Do you share that amount of enthusiasm?
Well, I think we have made a lot of changes. The idea would be for us to try and get players say like a Bertrand Berry or Chike Okeafor, who have been successful players around the league, who have felt that they can continue to be successful with Arizona. And then we tried to be aggressive in the draft and draft players that fit our style of play. We relied a lot on speed. We’re not very big on defense, but we rely a lot on speed. So, we drafted players regardless of what position they play that can run. Offensively at some stage, we’d like to have a balanced attack. So, I think we have made progress and that progress comes as a result of players who probably have had a certain reputation to be successful.
Re: When Kurt Warner was here (with the Giants), there were some deficiencies as far as holding the ball too long which created some sacks. Have you or the coaches identified that flaw and what have you done to correct it?
I just think we are going to play football. I think everyone has their opinions about Kurt Warner from New York to St. Louis. Now Kurt plays for Arizona and I think everybody will have a chance to see how Kurt Warner plays. I think he’s a very determined young guy and I think he feels that he can handle all aspects of a football game.
Re: How has Warner interacted with Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and Bryant Johnson. Has he taken an immediate leadership role?
He likes them. Those guys are young. Larry Fitzgerald just turned 22 last week. Anquan and Bryant, I mean they are all very young guys, but they are big. I mean they are all great big guys and they are tall. They have pretty good jumping ability. I think Kurt feels that if he puts the ball there that those guys have the ability to catch it. They have all got solid speed, too. So, I think Kurt feels that he has three receivers that can make some plays.
Re: How do you compare your receivers with what you had when you were in Minnesota?
Well, I think it is totally different. In all of the discussions on Jerry Rice, most of the time when they said Jerry Rice was number one, the guy that they said was number two was Cris Carter. I mean he was a phenomenal player. At a stage when Cris Carter, who is probably as good an inside-outside receiver as there was, was teamed up with Randy Moss, he was the most prolific deep receiver. So, I think it was a totally different setup. But these guys are all very good. They like the game. They are very competitive.
Re: Were you surprised Warner was replaced last season and what was your assessment of Warner after the Giants game last year when you played them?
I think that was a totally different game for us last year. We were focused on two things. Number one, that Tiki Barber had so many exceptional games going into it. You are never surprised by anything in the NFL. I think that everybody has a right to run their program exactly the way they want to run them. We looked at every single throw last year, good and bad, every game that Kurt played in and based on that, we felt he was a guy that would fit into our system.
Re: Kurt Warner quickly fit in last year with the Giants around the locker room and so forth. Has he had the same effect with your team in the locker room?
Kurt’s one of the most respected guys in the NFL. I think that a lot of it has to do with where he’s come from and a lot of it has to do with just his personality. He’s kind of a leader that guys respond to and he’s been in a lot of big battles. So, I think the guys definitely understand that he knows what he’s talking about.
Re: How has Kurt Warner done so far in your mind and how has he adapted to his third team in three years?
I think he has adapted very well. I think that most players are looking for a place that they can hang their hat on and hopefully this is the place. We only signed him to a one-year contract. So, we’re trying to get Kurt to come up and establish that he can still play like he feels he can play. I don’t think that he can do that by himself. I have always believed that a quarterback can normally just do his job and that if you get ten other guys that will do their own job, meaning carry their own water, then if a quarterback has talent, he can be successful. And I think that is the case with Kurt Warner. I think that he can carry his water, if we can find ten other guys to carry their water, I think he’ll be successful for this year for us and be around here a long time.
Re: Is J.J. Arrington indeed your starting running back?
Yes.
Re: Rookie tight end Adam Bergen, an undrafted rookie free agent from Siefort, N.Y., has he been a pleasant surprise to you?
Well, yeah and no. I loved everything about him when I saw him play at Lehigh. I thought he’d be a sixth-seventh round draft pick, you never can tell. But, he was our number one priority as a free agent who was not drafted for a couple of reasons. Number one, he can run. He’s very big, he can run. He has exceptional hands and so he came in here and was everything we were hopeful that he would be. He also has very good poise. Nothing bothers him. He’s got the kind of personality of the Brent Joneses of the world and other tight ends of the world who have a certain demeanor about them that nothing kind of bothers them. And I think he’s got that.
Re: Do you feel pressure to produce…?
Absolutely, absolutely. The pressure comes from me and my family and my two kids and my dog, who left coaching at one point and came back to coaching. There’s no way that I would have come back to coaching if I didn’t want to win because winning is a big part of my personality, regardless of what I do.
I think it’s going to be awesome. I think it’s going to be fun. I think with the memories surrounding September 11th, the team in and of itself is honored to be back in New York and playing with all of the things that are going to be circulating with that in remembrance of that. I just think we are all excited. I am excited as a player to come back there after last year to play against a lot of my friends from last year, but more importantly just to start opening day. And to start as a Cardinal and to get the chance to prove something with this organization.
Re: In retrospect, has everything worked out with you coming to the Giants for a year to reprove yourself and now landing this starting job. Has it all worked out the way you wanted it to?
Yeah. I think, yeah in New York, it was really a chance to showcase what I could still do and try to present myself with an opportunity like here in Arizona where I could play the game the way I wanted to and hopefully write my own story. It didn’t have anything to do with anybody else or draft picks that have a chance to finish my career here. So, that was really what the idea was last year with New York, to get the opportunity to play and help them win, do what I could for them in the short term that I was there. But really to present myself with an opportunity where I could step back in and play the way I played football, but also with a situation where hopefully I could finish my career there.
Re: Did you feel like you were going to get a longer deal than you did from Arizona?
No, not really because we really talked about the whole situation and we kicked around a longer term deal and really this thing works out best for all of us. First of all, Arizona wants to know what they are getting. They want to know what kind of player they are getting so they signed me to a one-year deal. It’s probably best for me because if I sign a long term deal, it’s based more on speculation maybe than what I feel I deserve or I what I feel like I can prove that I deserve. So, it’s really the best in both cases that if I go out and play the way I am capable of, the Cardinals are going to be happy and I’m going to be rewarded with a contract that I think is deserving of the way that I play and if I don’t go out and earn a long term contract, then that’s the best thing for the Cardinals and I can definitely understand that and can be completely justified in my mind.
Re: The Giants defense seems to think that the offense you guys are trying to run out there is kind of similar to what you used to run in St. Louis. Is that the case? Do you see similarities in the system?
Yes. I definitely see some similarities in the system. I don’t know all of the background of the schemes from them obviously. We’re doing a mix of things because we’ve got Keith Rouen coming from Kansas City and then the offense that they had established here last year with Coach Green in Minnesota and what they had done. I see similarities in some concepts and some ways that we are trying to play. But, it’s kind of hard to say, but I do see similarities in my mind of the way we like to attack down the field and that kind of offense, which I think fits into the way I play and is similar to I guess what we did in St. Louis.
Re: The offense is what you are talking about in finding a place that fits your style of quarterbacking?
Well, yeah. I just think that in New York last year, I was – we were more based on being a running football team and my job was more or less was to not make mistakes to lose games for us. It wasn’t as if the offense was ‘Here Kurt, here’s the ball, go out and make plays and win games for us.’ That just wasn’t the philosophy that they took and I completely understood that. So, it was a different type of mentality and here I have a lot more on my shoulders. A lot more is depending on me to do things with the football, to make decisions to throw the football to make the big plays to help us win. That’s just more of what I am used to doing. That’s more of how I played in St. Louis. It’s more of that mentality than we had last year in New York. That’s why to me it’s more like the way I like to play. I mean I like them to say here’s the ball, how the game works out is going to be based on how I play in just about every football game. That’s the position I like to be in. It’s nice to know that you are going to have an impact on every game positively or negatively. It’s my job to make sure it is a positive impact.
Re: Do you realize that this is the third straight Giants home opener that you will be quarterbacking in?
No, I did not realize that. There are so many little things that you don’t even think about. But, no I never thought about that.
Re: Do you think that you or the Giants defensive backs have an advantage this week being that you know each other so well?
I don’t know if either of us really has a distinct advantage. I don’t know how well those guys got to know me and like you said, we are playing a whole different system. We are playing the game a different way than we did last year. And so, I don’t know how much they can take, maybe they know more about me than I think they do and they can decipher something. As far as them, I think you understand the tendencies and you understand that they are a good football team and they are talented on the back end. So, I think I know those things going in. But, I don’t know I mean I think it’s – you know sometimes when it comes down to a game like this, it becomes matchups, it becomes your wide receiver against a defensive back more than it has anything to do with me seeing what a defensive back is doing or knowing a tendency. It comes down to your guy beating their guy one-on-one and my whole job is to get them the ball in a situation to make a play.
Re: How do the three receivers you have there rank or compare to the three you had in St. Louis?
They’re similar. I just think that there a lot of similarities. I would say like Anquan (Boldin), I would correlate him a lot to a Tory Holt. He’s a guy that’s great in and out of breaks, very good technique wise, very efficient, understands and knows how to play the game, and I would calculate Bryant Johnson to a guy like Isaac Bruce, who’s got a great stride, very good in and out of his cuts, doesn’t break down much, can get on top of you because he’s got such a great stride and great speed. Larry (Fitzgerald) is kind of odd to the mix I guess because the guys I had in St. Louis at that number three spot were more little guys – you know little, quick guys either that you could throw a little flip pass to and they could make a guy miss and Larry kind of has the whole package. He’s tall, he can go up and get the ball. I think he’s deceiving in the speed that he has. So, he’s a little different from the mix that I had in St. Louis. But, those other two guys are very similar to the two main guys on St. Louis.
Re: A guy from around this part, Marcel Ship, what have you seen from him that really impressed you?
First of all, Marcel is a great guy. You can’t help but just cheer for him after last year with the terrible injury that he had. And just to come back. The thing about it is that he’s a smart, patient runner, he’s strong, he’s powerful, he’ll run you over but can hit a seam, too, and break a big run. But, I think the thing that impresses me most about Marcel is just his patience, seeing the field, running the football, and he’s patient behind his blockers. And then when he sees something, he’s just able to hit it. Like I said, he can either hit it and outrun you or he can hit it and run over you because he’s put together so well.
Re: I’m sure you heard last year ‘Well, Kurt’s holding the ball too long.’ With that in mind, how much do you think the Giants will be selling out on blitzes trying to come after you and put as much pressure on you as possible?
I don’t know. When it comes to blitzing, you definitely are not holding the ball too long. So, that’s usually when you have to get it out quick. So, I don’t know. I mean I think they’ll mix it up. I think they’ll do what they do. I don’t think it will be a blitz-a-thon. But, I think Coach will pick his spots and he’ll come after us at times. That’s part of their plan. They like to blitz, they like to do some of that stuff, but I know they feel comfortable with their front four being able to get pressure maybe bringing a guy off the edge. I don’t know if it will be a blitz-a-thon. I just think he’ll pick and choose his parts and that’s what I think they will try to do. They say that I hold the ball too long, they’ll try to get me to hold the ball too long so their front four can get pressure on me and they can drop everybody back and that’s the best of both worlds right there.
Re: Eli (Manning) said he sent you a shirt in the offseason as kind of a thank you. Was that the only communication between the two of you?
Yeah, unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to talk. The offseason was pretty much nuts for me. I really haven’t – I have talked to a few guys back there from New York, but hadn’t had a chance to talk to Eli too much. But, I look forward to talking to him next week to see how things are going. Obviously, to see how his family is doing and everything down in Louisiana, but just to catch up. I’m sure he feels so much better and so much more confident this year than last year. I just look forward to catching up, but we haven’t had a chance to talk much I think for no other reason than the fact that we were both extremely busy in the offseason.
Re: What’s his potential?
It’s so hard to say to me. I think he’s smart. I think he’s talented. I think if you surround him with the right players in a system that fits what he does, I think he can be very, very good and it’s yet to be seen whether he can be great. You’d have to think that if you put all those pieces in place that he’s got the ability to be a great quarterback. But, I am always reserved to say that about anybody because you never know until somebody has done it and done it time and time again and done it in the pressure games. But, he’s got all the ability to be a very, very good NFL quarterback and if he’s surrounded with the right players, that’s going to happen sooner rather than later.
Re: Was there a moment last year either on or off the field where he kind of showed you his potential?
To me, he showed me his potential in the way that he handled those last seven games of the season. To get thrown into some very difficult situations, to go through some of the struggles that we went through as a team in those first few games and to continue to battle and fight through it and get better and better every week showed me what kind of player, what kind of character that guy has. It wasn’t necessarily anything that he showed me on the football field as far as throws, his physical ability or anything like that. It was just his demeanor in the way that he was able to mentally get through that and not only stand pat, but he continued to ascend through those difficult periods. And I said if he can go in and get thrown into that situation and really continue to ascend there, that he had the capability to be very, very tough and smart mentally where he could really handle about anything you threw at him.
Re: Were there other teams in play as far as teams you might have signed with?
Yeah, there were a number of other teams. There were really only a couple that really projected to me that I had a very legitimate chance to be the starter going in. Most of the teams that I talked to really wanted me there, but they had a young guy who had had a chance, but they didn’t know about him and they were ready to go a different direction if he didn’t start off the season well or if he didn’t meet their standards for a certain number of games. I didn’t want to go to a situation where I had to wait for somebody else to do bad or I had to hope that somebody else did bad for me to get an opportunity. So, this was really the best situation for me from so many different angles to give me the best opportunity to do what I think I do well and also to be on the football field with a fair competition where I have earned the right to play and it doesn’t have anything to do with the politics of the game or the drafting and all of that jazz that goes into it where it was just ‘hey the best player is going to be on the football field to help us win.’ So, this projected a great opportunity for me to do that.
Transcript: Cardinals Conference Calls
Head Coach Dennis Green talks with local media.
September 7, 2005
Coach Dennis Green
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Re: Can you tell me a little bit about how Marcel Shipp has come back from his injury and what has impressed you about him in the preseason?
Marcel’s done well. He had the injury that kept him out for the entire year. It was a couple of different injuries in one ankle, but he feels good. He’s coming back and he’s looking pretty good.
Re: How close is he to being 100 percent?
That is hard to say. I think he obviously runs with a little bit of a limp right now, but I think it’s healed as it’s going to get and he’s ready to play on it.
Re: Based on the fact that he’s running with a little bit of a limp and everything, were you impressed with what he did in the preseason? He was your leading rusher and ran for about 6 yards a carry, too?
Yeah, he did a good job. I don’t think that very many people pay a lot of attention to statistics. Probably the top receivers in the NFL probably didn’t collectively catch 20 passes, but I think he did a solid job.
Re: What kind of role do you see him playing in the offense this year with J.J. Arrington ahead of him?
It depends. We’ve got three backs. We only kept three running backs. So, all three of those backs will play. Marcel Shipp. James Jackson has been a solid starter in the NFL, who played for Cleveland. So, all three of the running backs will play. Those are the only three that we have on our roster.
Re: How impressed have you been with his work ethic and how he really hasn’t complained about anything the entire time you have been there? Can you talk about what you have seen with him in that respect?
Well, I think we didn’t have many guys in the program before we got here. The guys we do have here – guys like Marcel Shipp, James Darling, Leonard Davis, guys that have been around here a while – they have done a good job. I think they are very determined to turn the program around and any role they can play in that turnaround, I think they are excited about.
Re: Can you tell me about linebacker Gerald Hayes’ injury and when you might expect him back?
I think it’s going to be a minimum of maybe five or six more weeks. Gerald was a starting middle linebacker for us. We have not put him on injured reserve. We are hopeful that the injury will be able to heal. Any time you start talking about seven or eight weeks into the regular season, that’s a little bit of a risk. But right now, I want to take that risk.
Re: How had he played before he got hurt there? I know you had put him into the starting lineup at middle linebacker. How had he played before that?
Good job. He played both middle and weakside linebacker for us last year. We think middle linebacker is his more normal position and he was a solid player for us.
Re: When you look at the Giants, they are markedly different, if not improved? What do you focus on first, the offense or the defense? Where have they impressed you?
Well, they are very impressive defensively, extremely physical. They have a lot of real physical players. Linebackers are some of the biggest in the NFL and probably some of the most physical. All the secondary are over 195 pounds. So, physical defense is obviously Tom’s style of play. Offensively, I think you have to worry about Tiki Barber at all times. I mean the kind of year he had last year just kind of went along with all of the years he had before, but they might have been a little bit unnoticed maybe. I think they also have the speed at receiver. They are a team I think that is much better than the team we beat last year.
Re: Have you seen enough of Brandon Jacobs to have an opinion?
Yeah, I think he’s talented. You get yourself in a situation where you have guys who can go out there and make plays and find a way to make plays. We have got ourselves in a situation now where we just got to get ourselves on the field and work it. I think if you look at our football team, we’ve made a lot of progress. How much progress? I think we made a lot. But, I think we still have a lot of work to do.
Re: Has Kurt Warner been helpful to you in explaining some details about the Giants?
I really haven’t gotten into that. I think that we have played against each other a lot in the NFL. I think everybody gets their philosophical approach based on who’s the coordinator, who’s the head coach, and what they like to do. That’s really what we focus on.
Re: It’s been a long time since the Cardinals have come into a season with such high expectations and respect. Do you share that amount of enthusiasm?
Well, I think we have made a lot of changes. The idea would be for us to try and get players say like a Bertrand Berry or Chike Okeafor, who have been successful players around the league, who have felt that they can continue to be successful with Arizona. And then we tried to be aggressive in the draft and draft players that fit our style of play. We relied a lot on speed. We’re not very big on defense, but we rely a lot on speed. So, we drafted players regardless of what position they play that can run. Offensively at some stage, we’d like to have a balanced attack. So, I think we have made progress and that progress comes as a result of players who probably have had a certain reputation to be successful.
Re: When Kurt Warner was here (with the Giants), there were some deficiencies as far as holding the ball too long which created some sacks. Have you or the coaches identified that flaw and what have you done to correct it?
I just think we are going to play football. I think everyone has their opinions about Kurt Warner from New York to St. Louis. Now Kurt plays for Arizona and I think everybody will have a chance to see how Kurt Warner plays. I think he’s a very determined young guy and I think he feels that he can handle all aspects of a football game.
Re: How has Warner interacted with Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and Bryant Johnson. Has he taken an immediate leadership role?
He likes them. Those guys are young. Larry Fitzgerald just turned 22 last week. Anquan and Bryant, I mean they are all very young guys, but they are big. I mean they are all great big guys and they are tall. They have pretty good jumping ability. I think Kurt feels that if he puts the ball there that those guys have the ability to catch it. They have all got solid speed, too. So, I think Kurt feels that he has three receivers that can make some plays.
Re: How do you compare your receivers with what you had when you were in Minnesota?
Well, I think it is totally different. In all of the discussions on Jerry Rice, most of the time when they said Jerry Rice was number one, the guy that they said was number two was Cris Carter. I mean he was a phenomenal player. At a stage when Cris Carter, who is probably as good an inside-outside receiver as there was, was teamed up with Randy Moss, he was the most prolific deep receiver. So, I think it was a totally different setup. But these guys are all very good. They like the game. They are very competitive.
Re: Were you surprised Warner was replaced last season and what was your assessment of Warner after the Giants game last year when you played them?
I think that was a totally different game for us last year. We were focused on two things. Number one, that Tiki Barber had so many exceptional games going into it. You are never surprised by anything in the NFL. I think that everybody has a right to run their program exactly the way they want to run them. We looked at every single throw last year, good and bad, every game that Kurt played in and based on that, we felt he was a guy that would fit into our system.
Re: Kurt Warner quickly fit in last year with the Giants around the locker room and so forth. Has he had the same effect with your team in the locker room?
Kurt’s one of the most respected guys in the NFL. I think that a lot of it has to do with where he’s come from and a lot of it has to do with just his personality. He’s kind of a leader that guys respond to and he’s been in a lot of big battles. So, I think the guys definitely understand that he knows what he’s talking about.
Re: How has Kurt Warner done so far in your mind and how has he adapted to his third team in three years?
I think he has adapted very well. I think that most players are looking for a place that they can hang their hat on and hopefully this is the place. We only signed him to a one-year contract. So, we’re trying to get Kurt to come up and establish that he can still play like he feels he can play. I don’t think that he can do that by himself. I have always believed that a quarterback can normally just do his job and that if you get ten other guys that will do their own job, meaning carry their own water, then if a quarterback has talent, he can be successful. And I think that is the case with Kurt Warner. I think that he can carry his water, if we can find ten other guys to carry their water, I think he’ll be successful for this year for us and be around here a long time.
Re: Is J.J. Arrington indeed your starting running back?
Yes.
Re: Rookie tight end Adam Bergen, an undrafted rookie free agent from Siefort, N.Y., has he been a pleasant surprise to you?
Well, yeah and no. I loved everything about him when I saw him play at Lehigh. I thought he’d be a sixth-seventh round draft pick, you never can tell. But, he was our number one priority as a free agent who was not drafted for a couple of reasons. Number one, he can run. He’s very big, he can run. He has exceptional hands and so he came in here and was everything we were hopeful that he would be. He also has very good poise. Nothing bothers him. He’s got the kind of personality of the Brent Joneses of the world and other tight ends of the world who have a certain demeanor about them that nothing kind of bothers them. And I think he’s got that.
Re: Do you feel pressure to produce…?
Absolutely, absolutely. The pressure comes from me and my family and my two kids and my dog, who left coaching at one point and came back to coaching. There’s no way that I would have come back to coaching if I didn’t want to win because winning is a big part of my personality, regardless of what I do.
QB Kurt Warner
Re: How about some thoughts about walking into this stadium opening day?
I think it’s going to be awesome. I think it’s going to be fun. I think with the memories surrounding September 11th, the team in and of itself is honored to be back in New York and playing with all of the things that are going to be circulating with that in remembrance of that. I just think we are all excited. I am excited as a player to come back there after last year to play against a lot of my friends from last year, but more importantly just to start opening day. And to start as a Cardinal and to get the chance to prove something with this organization.
Re: In retrospect, has everything worked out with you coming to the Giants for a year to reprove yourself and now landing this starting job. Has it all worked out the way you wanted it to?
Yeah. I think, yeah in New York, it was really a chance to showcase what I could still do and try to present myself with an opportunity like here in Arizona where I could play the game the way I wanted to and hopefully write my own story. It didn’t have anything to do with anybody else or draft picks that have a chance to finish my career here. So, that was really what the idea was last year with New York, to get the opportunity to play and help them win, do what I could for them in the short term that I was there. But really to present myself with an opportunity where I could step back in and play the way I played football, but also with a situation where hopefully I could finish my career there.
Re: Did you feel like you were going to get a longer deal than you did from Arizona?
No, not really because we really talked about the whole situation and we kicked around a longer term deal and really this thing works out best for all of us. First of all, Arizona wants to know what they are getting. They want to know what kind of player they are getting so they signed me to a one-year deal. It’s probably best for me because if I sign a long term deal, it’s based more on speculation maybe than what I feel I deserve or I what I feel like I can prove that I deserve. So, it’s really the best in both cases that if I go out and play the way I am capable of, the Cardinals are going to be happy and I’m going to be rewarded with a contract that I think is deserving of the way that I play and if I don’t go out and earn a long term contract, then that’s the best thing for the Cardinals and I can definitely understand that and can be completely justified in my mind.
Re: The Giants defense seems to think that the offense you guys are trying to run out there is kind of similar to what you used to run in St. Louis. Is that the case? Do you see similarities in the system?
Yes. I definitely see some similarities in the system. I don’t know all of the background of the schemes from them obviously. We’re doing a mix of things because we’ve got Keith Rouen coming from Kansas City and then the offense that they had established here last year with Coach Green in Minnesota and what they had done. I see similarities in some concepts and some ways that we are trying to play. But, it’s kind of hard to say, but I do see similarities in my mind of the way we like to attack down the field and that kind of offense, which I think fits into the way I play and is similar to I guess what we did in St. Louis.
Re: The offense is what you are talking about in finding a place that fits your style of quarterbacking?
Well, yeah. I just think that in New York last year, I was – we were more based on being a running football team and my job was more or less was to not make mistakes to lose games for us. It wasn’t as if the offense was ‘Here Kurt, here’s the ball, go out and make plays and win games for us.’ That just wasn’t the philosophy that they took and I completely understood that. So, it was a different type of mentality and here I have a lot more on my shoulders. A lot more is depending on me to do things with the football, to make decisions to throw the football to make the big plays to help us win. That’s just more of what I am used to doing. That’s more of how I played in St. Louis. It’s more of that mentality than we had last year in New York. That’s why to me it’s more like the way I like to play. I mean I like them to say here’s the ball, how the game works out is going to be based on how I play in just about every football game. That’s the position I like to be in. It’s nice to know that you are going to have an impact on every game positively or negatively. It’s my job to make sure it is a positive impact.
Re: Do you realize that this is the third straight Giants home opener that you will be quarterbacking in?
No, I did not realize that. There are so many little things that you don’t even think about. But, no I never thought about that.
Re: Do you think that you or the Giants defensive backs have an advantage this week being that you know each other so well?
I don’t know if either of us really has a distinct advantage. I don’t know how well those guys got to know me and like you said, we are playing a whole different system. We are playing the game a different way than we did last year. And so, I don’t know how much they can take, maybe they know more about me than I think they do and they can decipher something. As far as them, I think you understand the tendencies and you understand that they are a good football team and they are talented on the back end. So, I think I know those things going in. But, I don’t know I mean I think it’s – you know sometimes when it comes down to a game like this, it becomes matchups, it becomes your wide receiver against a defensive back more than it has anything to do with me seeing what a defensive back is doing or knowing a tendency. It comes down to your guy beating their guy one-on-one and my whole job is to get them the ball in a situation to make a play.
Re: How do the three receivers you have there rank or compare to the three you had in St. Louis?
They’re similar. I just think that there a lot of similarities. I would say like Anquan (Boldin), I would correlate him a lot to a Tory Holt. He’s a guy that’s great in and out of breaks, very good technique wise, very efficient, understands and knows how to play the game, and I would calculate Bryant Johnson to a guy like Isaac Bruce, who’s got a great stride, very good in and out of his cuts, doesn’t break down much, can get on top of you because he’s got such a great stride and great speed. Larry (Fitzgerald) is kind of odd to the mix I guess because the guys I had in St. Louis at that number three spot were more little guys – you know little, quick guys either that you could throw a little flip pass to and they could make a guy miss and Larry kind of has the whole package. He’s tall, he can go up and get the ball. I think he’s deceiving in the speed that he has. So, he’s a little different from the mix that I had in St. Louis. But, those other two guys are very similar to the two main guys on St. Louis.
Re: A guy from around this part, Marcel Ship, what have you seen from him that really impressed you?
First of all, Marcel is a great guy. You can’t help but just cheer for him after last year with the terrible injury that he had. And just to come back. The thing about it is that he’s a smart, patient runner, he’s strong, he’s powerful, he’ll run you over but can hit a seam, too, and break a big run. But, I think the thing that impresses me most about Marcel is just his patience, seeing the field, running the football, and he’s patient behind his blockers. And then when he sees something, he’s just able to hit it. Like I said, he can either hit it and outrun you or he can hit it and run over you because he’s put together so well.
Re: I’m sure you heard last year ‘Well, Kurt’s holding the ball too long.’ With that in mind, how much do you think the Giants will be selling out on blitzes trying to come after you and put as much pressure on you as possible?
I don’t know. When it comes to blitzing, you definitely are not holding the ball too long. So, that’s usually when you have to get it out quick. So, I don’t know. I mean I think they’ll mix it up. I think they’ll do what they do. I don’t think it will be a blitz-a-thon. But, I think Coach will pick his spots and he’ll come after us at times. That’s part of their plan. They like to blitz, they like to do some of that stuff, but I know they feel comfortable with their front four being able to get pressure maybe bringing a guy off the edge. I don’t know if it will be a blitz-a-thon. I just think he’ll pick and choose his parts and that’s what I think they will try to do. They say that I hold the ball too long, they’ll try to get me to hold the ball too long so their front four can get pressure on me and they can drop everybody back and that’s the best of both worlds right there.
Re: Eli (Manning) said he sent you a shirt in the offseason as kind of a thank you. Was that the only communication between the two of you?
Yeah, unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to talk. The offseason was pretty much nuts for me. I really haven’t – I have talked to a few guys back there from New York, but hadn’t had a chance to talk to Eli too much. But, I look forward to talking to him next week to see how things are going. Obviously, to see how his family is doing and everything down in Louisiana, but just to catch up. I’m sure he feels so much better and so much more confident this year than last year. I just look forward to catching up, but we haven’t had a chance to talk much I think for no other reason than the fact that we were both extremely busy in the offseason.
Re: What’s his potential?
It’s so hard to say to me. I think he’s smart. I think he’s talented. I think if you surround him with the right players in a system that fits what he does, I think he can be very, very good and it’s yet to be seen whether he can be great. You’d have to think that if you put all those pieces in place that he’s got the ability to be a great quarterback. But, I am always reserved to say that about anybody because you never know until somebody has done it and done it time and time again and done it in the pressure games. But, he’s got all the ability to be a very, very good NFL quarterback and if he’s surrounded with the right players, that’s going to happen sooner rather than later.
Re: Was there a moment last year either on or off the field where he kind of showed you his potential?
To me, he showed me his potential in the way that he handled those last seven games of the season. To get thrown into some very difficult situations, to go through some of the struggles that we went through as a team in those first few games and to continue to battle and fight through it and get better and better every week showed me what kind of player, what kind of character that guy has. It wasn’t necessarily anything that he showed me on the football field as far as throws, his physical ability or anything like that. It was just his demeanor in the way that he was able to mentally get through that and not only stand pat, but he continued to ascend through those difficult periods. And I said if he can go in and get thrown into that situation and really continue to ascend there, that he had the capability to be very, very tough and smart mentally where he could really handle about anything you threw at him.
Re: Were there other teams in play as far as teams you might have signed with?
Yeah, there were a number of other teams. There were really only a couple that really projected to me that I had a very legitimate chance to be the starter going in. Most of the teams that I talked to really wanted me there, but they had a young guy who had had a chance, but they didn’t know about him and they were ready to go a different direction if he didn’t start off the season well or if he didn’t meet their standards for a certain number of games. I didn’t want to go to a situation where I had to wait for somebody else to do bad or I had to hope that somebody else did bad for me to get an opportunity. So, this was really the best situation for me from so many different angles to give me the best opportunity to do what I think I do well and also to be on the football field with a fair competition where I have earned the right to play and it doesn’t have anything to do with the politics of the game or the drafting and all of that jazz that goes into it where it was just ‘hey the best player is going to be on the football field to help us win.’ So, this projected a great opportunity for me to do that.
