TEMPE — Usually CPR is used to help others.
At the Arizona Cardinals training facility, it’s anything but.
With more and more penalties being called for hits on quarterbacks, especially while on the run, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has to be creative in how he puts his defenders in the best position to win while not getting covered in yellow flags throughout a game.
His solution?
“If our rushers win, we’re not tackling the quarterback,” Joseph said Thursday. “We’re simply attacking the elbow, causing the fumble, getting the ball and they give you the sack. Hitting the quarterback, it’s old school. Punching the quarterback, it can’t happen anymore.
“When QBs take off and run, our guys are taught to CPR; club, punch and rip the ball. And then he’ll obviously go down if you punch the ball. We want the ball from the quarterback, outside of that it’s gonna be a penalty, so we don’t even teach it anymore.”
The next time you sign up for a CPR class, make sure to double check and see if Joseph is the instructor.
J.J. Watt will take wins over sacks any day of the week
When the Cardinals signed J.J. Watt this offseason, many expected the defensive lineman to fill up the stat sheet with teams having to contend with both him and outside linebacker Chandler Jones.
Four games into the season, however, and Watt has yet to record a sack.
But that doesn’t mean his presence isn’t being felt, with the lineman recording two tackles for loss and three QB hits.
And at 4-0, that’s quite alright for Watt.
“Obviously, you’d like to have the big numbers and flashy plays, but it’s all about winning and that’s what I’m here to do,” Watt said Thursday. “I’m here to win, we’re 4-0, so whatever it takes. Obviously, they’ll come, they come in bunches in this league.
“But for right now, if it affects the play, if the ball goes way over somebody’s head or the ball goes into our guys’ hands that’s perfectly fine by me.”