The Special Touch: Cardinals Unit Brings Excitement to…

Following the Arizona Cardinals’ 29-9 victory over the Chicago Bears last Sunday, head coach Jonathan Gannon made it a point to note the play of the special teams while revealing coordinator Jeff Rodgers received a game ball.

While passing out the accolades and mentioning several game-changing plays, Gannon said the night before it was communicated to the team the importance of be able to “star your role.” He added, “Whatever your role is, everyone’s the same. Everyone is the exact same no matter your role. Everyone has the same importance to the team.”

Later in the week when asked to further explain expound on starring in your role, Gannon said, “It takes everybody on the team to play well to have a chance to win the game. Everyone’s role is equally important to winning the game, so that’s kind of what it is. You have to star your role. Whatever you’re supposed to be doing while you’re in the game, whatever that is, you have to do a good job at it. Our guys take to that, and they know roles change throughout the week and throughout game to game. You guys have seen that happen. Who’s up, who’s down, who’s getting multiple snaps, who’s got not as many snaps, but you guys know how we roll.

“If you’ve got a jersey on game day, you have a role. Whether it be offense, defense, special teams; whatever that is. Some guys are playing two, three spots on offense and defense. Some guys are playing two or three spots in the kicking game. It’s huge. You have to put a lot into that throughout the week to be ready to go and do a good job for us.”

Seven-year veteran receiver Zach Pascal, who turns 30 next month, doesn’t play much on offense, but he’s one of the leaders on special teams.

Asked if he mentors the younger players who probably didn’t play special teams very much in college, Pascal said, “Absolutely. We all know people look down on special teams, but the more we can bring energy, the more we can have fun with it in our own way. Celebrations, whatever it is, big plays. That energy leaks down throughout the team. Some people start wanting to be on special teams because of the energy we have, the swag we have out there and it’s just having fun within your room and dominance.

“You try to teach the young guys that each position on offense, defense, special teams is important and when you’re out there just have fun with it. We make the biggest plays in the game. We can change the game. We’re all in on one accord of being the difference-maker.

Pascal noted that a safety against Chicago last week was the result of Joey Blount downing a punt at the one-yard line. That was Blount’s second of the season. The Broncos have four downed at the one this season, which is the most in the NFL since the Cardinals had four in 2013.

Also significant is that in nine games, of the 41 penalties assessed against the team this season, only four have been on special teams. One was when a kickoff failed to reach the landing zone and there has been only one for holding or a block in the back.

Gannon also termed it “huge” the impact the Cardinals special teams make and made sure to also mention assistant coach Sam Sewell in addition to Rodgers.

“They’re detailed out and they coach them hard,” Gannon said. “We put a lot of emphasis into it and our guys take to it. They know the impact that they can have on teams to generate explosives, to score points, to field-position battle and to not foul. All those things go into playing really good clean football in that phase and that’s a huge piece of why we win games.

Embracing your role is important, Rodgers said, and when asked about starring your role, he answered, “It’s not just playing special teams. Like a guy wants to be locking down their gunner or beating their vice guy. It’s real specific. Because if you’re a four-phase starter, you’re doing four different things on four different plays. If you’re punt return, whatever phase it might be. So there’s plenty of guys who maybe play one phase or maybe play two phases and it’s not just being a star in their role in special teams. It’s like I want to block that guy. That’s my objective this week.”

It’s a fine line on special teams with weekly changes on where guys are playing, but there’s more to the overall plan than simply finding consistent special-teamers.

“Generally speaking, league-wide as an organization, you’re always trying to develop young players and a lot of teams use the kicking game as a way to get guys play time,” Rodgers said. “Find out how good they are, put them into position to be successful and you’re trying to cross-train guys on their side of the ball as well as the kicking game. I don’t think that every kid grows up hoping to be the R4 on punt return, like you’re the L3 on kickoff. Like it’s not where their dreams are. They’re catch touchdowns, sack the quarterback, throw touchdowns. But at the end of the day they figure out, OK, here’s a way that I can make a living and have an impact on the game and keep my career alive long enough to where when I do get that opportunity on my side of the ball, doing what I’ve always dreamed of doing, it’s still there.”

Not every player accepts that.

Rodgers said, “There are young players in this league, there have been young players in the league in the past who don’t embrace that and they run out of time before they really get their opportunity. So, you try to explain that to the rookies and the guys coming in, like, here’s an avenue. And here’s how you can impact the team. You’re going to be in uniform on game day. You’re not going to be inactive. And as long as you’re in uniform, you can be the next guy or you can develop a role.

“I’ve had plenty of guys in the past that have played really well in the kicking game and the defensive coaches have noticed. And it’s like, we need a package for this guy because he’s making plays in the kicking game or the same thing with offensive guys. Guys that are handling the ball, returners, all of a sudden, they show up and you see that around the league. I think it’d be hard to make a blanket statement that guys always embrace those things because they don’t.”

Rodgers said Blount has done that since being signed to the Cardinals practice squad last year on Sept. 18 and was added to the active roster 15 days later. He was available after being waived from injured reserve by the Seahawks with an injury settlement.

“Joey’s a stud and he’s here for a reason,” Rodgers said. “He put good stuff on tape when he was in Seattle. He had to get healthy, which he did, and he’s made an impact doing exactly what we thought he could do when we acquired him.”

When Rodgers spoke to the media on Tuesday, his voice was still a bit raspy. He was congested toward the end of the week before the Bears game and felt fine, but his voice became an issue on game day.

“I literally couldn’t talk,” he said. “It lasted until yesterday. My voice was still pretty scratchy. Sam actually did the game-review meeting. We’re both in there and obviously the guys had all my notes, but it was an interesting experience coaching a game where I couldn’t really yell. We actually recruited a couple of players who weren’t dressed to be echoing just about everything I said. The communication was the hardest part, but it’s making a comeback.