{"id":66220,"date":"2025-05-21T00:25:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/66220\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T00:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T00:25:11","slug":"cardinals-new-look-defense-working-to-speak-same-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/66220\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals’ new-look defense working to speak same language"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEMPE \u2014 There will be plenty of new faces around Budda Baker on the Arizona Cardinals\u2019 defense this season, and the group is working its way through feeling each other out.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle sneak peek here and there, but at the end of the day, nothing really matters till we put the football pads on,\u201d Baker said Tuesday. \u201cSo getting to know all our new players, new additions. Everyone\u2019s coming into work and working really hard, grinding and we\u2019re staying together just taking it day by day. It\u2019s been fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arizona added Josh Sweat\u2019s pass rushing abilities, Dalvin Tomlinson\u2019s interior fortitude and Calais Campbell\u2019s veteran presence.<\/p>\n

Baker said the new additions to the defensive front have him eager to get onto the field because of how it can allow the back end of the defense to play for more turnovers.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s without an interception since 2022<\/a>, and his eagerness to break that streak showed Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to do my job at a high level if the ball comes my way to INT it and not PBU it, because I don\u2019t really have a lot of chances at that,\u201d Baker said. \u201cWatching this past year\u2019s film especially \u2026 I have to hone in and intercept those balls because I\u2019m not really seeing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Baker can start thinking about interceptions, however, Arizona has to gets its communication down. Training camp is roughly two months away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is just developing and understanding the Cardinal way of how we speak football,\u201d Baker said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different teams and defenses. There\u2019s all these different schemes and route formations that we call differently here versus other teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo just everyone getting along and getting on the same page and being able to talk Cardinal football talk is the biggest thing and just understanding the scheme and how it works. And (defensive coordinator Nick Rallis) and our coaches do a great job of taking it step by step in a sense of giving guys an understanding of how things work and why we\u2019re doing things the way we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinals DBs take to the lanes<\/p>\n

The getting-to-know-you stage is one that happens both naturally and intentionally, Baker said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The example he gave was a bowling night the defensive backs room had at Main Event on Monday with Rallis and some other coaches tagging along.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad a great time bowling, talking smack to each other, just building that camaraderie and understanding who we are outside of football,\u201d Baker said. \u201cWe\u2019re all competitive. We had a really great time and come into work this morning and see the same guys and continue to grind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The safety said he\u2019s the type of guy who gets mad if he loses rock, paper, scissors, so he was proud to point out he won the first game with a score of 131.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t so lucky the next game when fellow safety<\/a> Dadrion \u201cRabbit\u201d Taylor-Demerson brought out some moves indicating he had a hidden hobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he bowls on the outside. The way the spin was working and the way he stepped up as he approached throwing the ball, you could tell that he\u2019s done that before,\u201d Baker said. \u201cSo Rab took the win the second time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker emphasized that whether it\u2019s him getting to know his teammates or the new faces \u2014 including rookie defensive backs Will Johnson and Denzel Burke \u2014 learning a new scheme, focusing on the present was what would yield the best results.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really like know-knowing it and I truly believe that each and every player when we step on that football field will know-know it because of the way our coaches are teaching the game of football and how we play on defense,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

\t
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