HC Jonathan Gannon joins the media from Training Camp

alive. It’s Friday, man. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. Hey, Greg. How you doing? Good to see you. Kent, how you doing, man? How are you? Good. All right. Uh Friday. So, uh we’re going to compete today and play football, which will be fun. And then, uh they’ll get a little bit of a day off and we’ll be back at it on uh Sunday. So, uh what do we got? How’s Russell up on? He’s good. Yeah, he’s he’s going to be in concussion protocol. So, um, that let that do its work, you know what I mean? But, uh, it was good to see that he’s okay, you know what I mean? I thought that, uh, Drew Kger and his staff, you know, being on the field with that type of injury, the precautions you got to take and taking emotion out of it and making sure that he’s safe. I thought they did a really good job. I told him that. That was pretty much clinic. Um, cuz you get a pit in your stomach when you see that, obviously. You know what I mean? But, uh, they did a really good job. But he’s okay. He’s in good spirits. He’s back in the building. It’s all good. Coming on Monday. What’s the practice schedule? Say, say it again, D. Pats are coming on Monday. Correct. I don’t know that. Whatever the rules are, that’s what we do. How do you balance with the day off and then Sunday and then leave Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday? Yeah, they’ll uh our tempo kind of we kind of keep the same cadence if you guys see like as we we try to adapt them um to what they do in a game week. So, how we do it, you know, in a game week, it’s Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday is a walk through and Sunday you play. Um, so we keep that same cadence in camp. Um, and it’s really for multiple reasons. I’m not going to get in all of them because I’ll bore you guys, but uh I like coming after a day off of of sparring, we call it. Um, and that kind of gets them grooved up again. Um, I think it’s a safe way to get a lot of reps, um, a lot of corrections, a lot of development there, but you’re also making sure that we’re safe. Uh, and then we typically go fast and fast. So, that’s what we’re doing this today, too. Good question, Donnie. How is, uh, M. Wilson taken to Mike linebacker spot? Excellent. Sense that he’s more vocal, needing to be more vocal. Um, yeah, he well, you know, he’s he’s extremely smart and intelligent and uh probably what you’re getting at, you know, he he didn’t do that last year for us. He played the will. Um, and we we kicked around the tires of what we wanted to do coming into this year. Um, and we thought that he would he would do that well. Um, so we put we moved him to Mike. Uh, and he’s playing Mike for us. He played Mike in the spring. He’s playing Mike now. Um, I think he told you guys he’s calling the defense right now. Uh, all those inside linebackers have it in their helmet. So, we train all those guys. Uh, but one guy’s got to call the defense, you know what I mean, in the huddle. So, uh, right now he’s doing a really good job of it. You know, he’s got really good command. Um, and you know, we’ve talked about before people that haven’t done it before. You’re you’re you got to evaluate that and make sure that it’s clean because there’s some defensive calls that I get mad at Nick. I feel like they’re they can get wordy and long at times. It’s like we are we John Gruden playing offense right now, Nick. You know what I mean? Like, you know, you’ve heard those play calls. Like, good luck trying to memorize those. Um, quarterback position is unbelievable what goes on in their ear. But we do a good job of keeping it simple. But you do have to get it, say it to the defense, make sure they all hear it, make sure you give the full call, get lined up. And then the second phase of that is after you break the huddle, we put a lot on the Mike linebacker’s plate with mechanics, you know, front mechanics, backend mechanics. So, he’s responsible for a lot of communication. And he’s got caddies out there. I call them caddies, you know, he’s got people helping him. Um, and and ideally, everybody communicates. Um, but he’s responsible for a lot of that. And he’s done a really good job. He really has. I mean, I, you know, it was one of the things I was looking at in spring. Um, and it was very clean and and good. And so, you know, when that happens, I’m like, he’s just going to get better and better at it. So, feel really comfortable with him and really comfortable with all the other guys, too. That’s cool. And the the other side of that, what does a need to do to to excel at that will spot? Oh, he’s playing Will and Mike, you know, so is Cody. We cross trainin all those guys, you know, Mike and Will, we’ve talked about that. Yeah. Yes, they’re different positions because where they align. Um, they’re really mirrored positions to me. It’s like talking about the safeties, free and strong. They kind of do the same thing. You know, they’re they’re at some point in certain calls, they’re doing the same thing. So, um, Ake’s done a really good job first grasping our system. Obviously, the first year in the system, Max in his second year, Cody’s in his, you know, Mike, you know, Mike his first year. Um, Owen in his third year now, I think, right? So, all kind of different levels of understanding and how they’re functioning, but they’re all doing a really good job. I feel good about all those guys where they’re trending right now. The competition um for the different spots is is heavy. Um it’ll continue to be that. But I like where that group is at. You know, I think Christian’s done a really good job Christian being a new guy, you know, a new coach for us. Um first year in our system, you know, there’s a lot going on and and it’s hard to be a linebacker coach here because of the coordinator, you know, that’s his baby, you know. So, um, he’s he’s got to be on it. He’s got to be on it with a guy like Will Johnson. I mean, I know you guys are do a good job in terms of moving quarterbacks in and out and giving them all looks and and seeing what they have, but he obviously earned some higher level snaps out there already. What have you seen out of him that makes you say, “Okay, we want to see how that goes right off.” Is it is it just a test or have you already seen stuff from him that you’re thinking he could he could handle this role? No, I think all those corners, you know, I thought Krill had a really good day yesterday. All those guys are are competing for playing time. You know, we move them right and left field boundary. You know, we aren’t going to match people right now, but we’ll get into that as we get going. Um because I do believe they got to be able to play right and left, especially if you’re matching people. But, uh, you know, he he’s smart, so he’s picked up everything really, really quickly in my opinion. Um, and he did some really good things in spring and he did some really good things yesterday, you know what I mean? So, uh, production gives you the chance to get more reps, you know what I mean? And, uh, you know, he’s competing for his role though right now. I would say that roles are not defined. You talked about your, uh, how you kind of deploy your day hours wise to Bob yesterday with study. Um, how when it comes to you and Monty, what’s the dynamic of that in training camp when it comes to roster construction and the conversations you have to have in addition to just coaching? No, I was telling uh Mark that um very efficient um communication, you know, like we obviously we talk every day u but there’s not like a set time that we talk. It’s when he wants to talk, he comes and talks. when I want to go talk, I go and talk. You know what I mean? And uh but it’s typically, you know, hopefully I’m he’s a lot more thought out than I am. Um but he’s thinking about everything all the time and I’d like to think so am I. You know what I mean? And I think that you have to do that in the two seats that we’re in because it’s our responsibility to get it right. Um so, but I I think, you know, we see the game similarly. Um not the same all the time, but similarly. Um, so that makes it pretty easy, you know, as far as when you’re communicating about players or, you know, additions or whatever it may be. We’re kind of on the same path, which makes it pretty cool. Um, because then you can be pretty efficient with, you know, how you communicate and what’s being said and and decision- making truthfully. Um, what I always appreciate about Monty, uh, I’m the guy that if you say read a book and get the answer, I read the book and get the answer. Um, there’s other people out there that read the book and get the answer but then read four more books to validate the answer. He’s like that, you know. So, you missed that chapter, JG. Yes, I did. You’re right. Got to read more. But, uh, so that’s cool because I know it’s a good checks and balances, you know. How much of a benefit is it to have Baron Brown in training camp this year? You know, traded for him last deadline. Now you get him in the program for the entirety of the summer. Yeah, great to see you, too, Johnny. Hope you had a good summer. um looking fit as always. Yeah. Uh uh huge huge you know I mean because now you can see like even even I’ll give you an example like in a meeting room like the questions he’s asking it’s like yes dude those are the questions you should be asking. You know what I mean? So you can tell like his understanding is is is way above where it was when he got here. And like when you get, you know, I never went through it, but talking to guys that get to a new team mid year as the year going on, it it’s it’s hard, man. Like it’s a there’s a lot going on. Um, you know, all the things that you guys would know, you know, what would be going on, but uh I thought he he did an excellent job of getting caught up last year and being able to play and play well for us. And now there’s just a level of comfortability and he’s getting to the 221A now. You know what I mean? and and Matt’s done a really good job with with him in that entire room. Um Nick has his hand in that room. Obviously, they’re co M Matt’s coordinating with Debo. You know, those that those rooms got to work together, but uh Baron um specifically, I think, is doing a really good job. Um he’s playing them, he’s playing how we want him to play. Uh he understands his skill set, how he can win. He’s a guy that’s versatile now, too. You’re going to see him line up in some different spots. Probably shouldn’t spill the beans, but I want to see him do some different things because I think he has a skill set to do it. With Monty, he seems to be a very active GM. He’s on the field all the time. You guys watching practice 20, 30 yards back. What him being out there, him seeing everything kind of in real time like that. What does that add to your conversations? How does it help kind of what you guys are? Yeah, you’ll see him sometime, you know. Yeah, he’s, you know, it’s his baby, you know, so he’s he’s going to he’s going to look over it, you know. Uh I love it. I love it. I love when Michael’s out there, too. You know what I mean? He’s out there a lot, too. I love that. Um sometimes I’ll go talk to Monte on the field about certain things, sometimes not. You know what I mean? But, uh he’s got an eye for it, you know? That’s how that’s why he’s in the seat that he’s at. He’s got a talented eye for what he’s looking at and what he needs to evaluate and make decisions on. So that’s cool. But that’s just one piece. On the grass is one piece and like Bob we alluded to, the tape’s the kind of the next piece, you know what I mean? So he there’s no one that’s watching more tape than Monty. You know, you told us yesterday you’re still trying to get to know Kas better. What have you found out about him that you didn’t know that you really like that you didn’t already know? Um yeah, I the thing that jumps out to me um for being a you know being around older vets that have done you know that have played at such a high level um I would have bet my car on this but you don’t know uh he is super super caring about his teammates um and that’s really cool you know what I mean because that’s kind of our mantra team over you Right. And uh he really is not just he is not about himself. He is about the team. And a lot of guys truthfully to make it as long as he has they start to become as they get a little bit older about themselves. You know that whole self-preservation thing going on. I get it. He is not like that at all. So that’s been really cool to see. Um why I say I would have bet my car when we acquired him. That’s what we heard. But you never know until he gets in your building. You know what I mean? Everyone changes as their career goes, you know. You know, one year you’re a good dude, one year not so much. You know what I mean? And and uh he’s a really good dude. He’s a really good teammate and he cares about his teammates, which is awesome. I was going to ask about the offensive line, coach. You’re not hitting right now, right? So, but it’s all about communication and teamwork and the team. How is all that mesh going? Yeah, Greg, watch it today. like it. We You’re right because we’re not in pads, but man, it it’s it’s physical. It’s physical. Um they’re doing a really good job. I I think you know the you know, you see the kind of the different guys in and out. Um you know, we’ll have some guy different guys in and out of the ones, the twos, and the threes. We like to mix them. Go play right, go play left. You know, you got to be able to do that. But uh you know from a standpoint of communication, spotting the run game the right way, pass pro, who are we going to, where are the combos going to, you know, I Fry I think has done a really good job. He’s a new coach, you know, so he’s had to learn our system and he’s brought some pretty cool unique little tweaks um with him um from his experiences that really uh kind of, you know, synced up with what the couple changes that we wanted to make, you know, it’s because who we have, you know what I mean? So that’s what moving forward into this year, it’s like, hey, can we do this a little bit better? Should we change this to do this a little bit better? and he’s had experience with some of those things um and some different ways of doing it, you know, and and that’s been really cool to see. And the the gel of him already with Drew and the whole offensive staff and then with the players in the meeting room has been phenomenal. Um so, you know, we lost a really good one, we acquired a really good one, you know, and and Cookie is doing a great job, too. You know, he really is. It’s his third year now. Chris, the assistant O line coach. He’s doing a great job with those guys, you know, and um I’m I’m glad I’m I’m I’m happy where that room is trending. I will say that. But let’s see the pads get on too. Right. Is there like a green dot position? Is it just the center? Does the whole line? They all communicate, but I would I would say it like this um communication works inside the outside. So Yela is the most communicative. Um Paris probably the least, but Paris still has to communicate. you know, those tackles still have to communicate with the guards and they got to hear it, but it works inside out. Um, but as far as the green dot, if you would say, the guy that Kyler is most in sync with is Yela. Yeah. And last one for me on the line, Paris, it’s like the first time he’s going to play the same position two years in a row, like since high school. How excited are you to see what he’s got in for this? Very. Yeah, I you know, I’m not going to make power statements and throw things out there, but I have I I have a really I think he has a really really high ceiling. I really do. Um and I’m looking forward to seeing him work towards that every day, you know, because I think it’s it’s Mars, you know. Um, so I that hopefully that wasn’t a power statement, but uh he’s he’s a really good player that’s ascending and and to your point now it’s going to be cool to see him because I I do really think that he’s really comfortable at left right now. Um, just some of the things that he’s doing through just two days, but even in OTAAS, you know what I mean? But the experience of playing all the games on left, um, you saw that kind of, you know, carry over into spring and and now, um, and that’s going to be really cool to see where he takes his game and we need him to. Okay. With Trey Benson’s development, um, do you envision him being able to take a little bit more off of James workload than he did last year? Yeah, we’ll do we’ll put whoever out there we think, you know, to get it done, you know what I mean? But I, you know, Trey’s another one that, you know, I we acquired him for a reason. You know, I feel really good about him. You know, that whole room is doing a good job. There’s major competition in that room, you know, cuz we got some good backs and they all have different skill sets. Um, but they they’re all smart. They can, you know, run the rock. They play fourth down most of them, you know, and um they’re all competing to find their role, you know what I mean? But I think Tre is going to take a step. I do. Tackle is such a foundational position for a team. What kind of traits does Paris have that kind of allows him to be that that guy, that pillar of this team, not just Yeah, I say big dancing bear, man. You know, um he’s he’s very athletic, he’s powerful, and at the end of the day, you know, if you boiled it down, move your guy in the run game and block your guy and don’t let him hit the quarterback, you know what I mean? So, and that’s going verse all kinds of different people, you know, and um he can do those things at a high level. Coach, you mentioned coach Cook in the offensive line. How beneficial is it to have that bridge from with a new, you know, Fry Fry coming in to have Cook to lean on? Huge. Yeah. Yeah. Huge. Yeah. I mean, that’s that was a really good sounding board for Justin with Chris, you know, in there cuz they work together, you know what I mean? It’s just like two DB coaches, you know what I mean? like whatever it is like you got to be the outside linebacker coach and our system the outside linebacker coach and the Dline coach like they got you everyone has to work together but I think that you know Chris has done a really good job because he’s got a mastery of our system um where he got Justin caught up to speed and he knows the players too so he knows you know things that each guy needed to work on in their developmental plan what they’ve struggled with where they need to go to hit their ceiling as a player so um very glad we have them coach it seems like guardian cap uh numbers have increased as the leak has introduced it from a few years ago. There’s a decent amount of guys wearing them and training cap. I’m just curious, are those any conversations that you have with your staff? Do you have any opinions on the guardian? Um, no. I think they’re good if they’re lowering head injuries, so that’s cool. I thought that they just uh man uh I think they mandated now the skill guys wearing them, right? So that’s that’s probably why you see a little bit more. I think there is one helmet or a couple helmets that you can wear that you don’t have to wear them. Um uh you know so we’re trying to get our guys in that you know we did a study at the league meetings um and I was very pleased about most of our guy we were in the top percentages of guys wearing the right helmets that are recommended to keep them safe and you know our guys I I do talk about that I hit on that um uh because health is important you know what I mean but uh and we want those guys to protect their head but uh that’s it’s interesting how some helmets are safer than on other helmets, you know what I mean? So, we educate our guys. Schwim does a really good job, equipment staff, Schwim does a really good job, uh, that’s going to be my next job. Um, Schwim and his group do a really good job of educating our guys, uh, knowing the why when they start to ask questions, um, and getting our guys in the right stuff. Coach, you ever had a a conflict with Monty? I’m curious like how that how that worked itself out. Like, you really want this guy, but he really wants that guy. How do you guys work through those kind of M I don’t know if it works like that, Greg. Like I, you know, that’s probably Yeah, I can’t think of where we had a conflict like that. We might see a player a little bit differently. We might see the draft, free agency, what this guy’s value is a little differently, but you know, there’s never a decision that I make or never a decision that he makes that we’re not in lock step. Yeah. It sounds like you guys are really aligned and that probably gives you a lot of comfort when you’re evaluating. Pretty much. Yeah, I say too what’s cool is, you know, like uh he’s not looking over his shoulder and I’m not looking over mine, which is cool. You know, what kind of boxes are you looking for Owen to check off game? Playm, you know, I want to see him cut it loose and make plays truthfully, you know, he knows what to do. He’s it’s his third year now. He’s played good ball for us. Uh I want to see at the point of attack, does he make it? Does he make it? You know what I mean? And and that’s all of our guys, truthfully. But, uh, he’s a guy that I got my eye on as far as because he can do it, man. But when we’re there, do we make it? How do you balance looking at a guy who might have more experience and then a young player who might have maybe a little bit more athleticism given his tenure and figuring out the right kind of playing time, especially early on for rookies? Yeah, loaded question there, Johnny. It’s a good question. It’s hard, you know what I mean? And and I would say this like we’re always going to fall back on like what’s the best thing for the team you know and I know that’s kind of a boring answer but it’s the truth you know like even when you’re comp comprising or composing the 53 like you got to blend that too you know and then there’s and then I don’t worry about you know I’m aware but it’s really not in my thought process the business aspect of it too which Monty balances you know what I mean so um he’s got to handle that. But, uh, we’re, you know, they’re competing for their roles and if they have a role, you know, and they have a role on game day and they can play and help us win, they’re going to play. That’s who we play. You guys have seen that since we’ve been here, you know what I mean? Like, it’s um, compete for your role, and if you get a role, you’ll play. JG, when it comes to Zav Collins, he’s entering his fifth year. You guys gave him a two-year extension. Just what do you want to see from him and his development? Yeah, consistency, development. And I I think he’s done a really He looked really good in spring. He looked good yesterday. Um I think like for development wise, kind of like Owen, just just cut it loose, you know? If I had to and he he’sard me say this, so it’s not like I’m coaching him right now, but uh he he he likes to critique everything. Not all the time, just cut it loose. You know what I mean? Because he’s got the skill set to do it. We’ve seen him be a highly productive player. He’s been a really good player for us. We utilize him in different roles because he’s super smart and he’s got this like really unique unicorn skill set, you know, for being as big as he is, how he can move and his understanding of the game and what we’re asking him to do. Uh, but I think he’s going to take off, too. I really do. Okay. Thank you. Have a good weekend.

HC Jonathan Gannon joins the media from Training Camp

2025 Tickets: https://bit.ly/4j5IeXA

Subscribe to the Cardinals YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/SubscribeCardsYT
Watch #CardsFlightPlan: http://bit.ly/CardsFlightPlan

#ArizonaCardinals #NFL #AZCardinals #BirdGang

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azcardinals
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@azcardinals?lang=en
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AZCardinals
For more Cardinals action: https://www.azcardinals.com/

4 comments
Leave a Reply