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Cards Ready To Get Past The Hype

Tribune photo by MARC LANCASTER

Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said that the mood of players starts to change once actual game preparations for the Super Bowl begin.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2009

TAMPA - Football players don't usually find themselves longing for a good, old-fashioned practice, but the Arizona Cardinals definitely had reached that point this morning.

Two days after arriving in town and 24 hours after the clichéd silliness of Super Bowl Media Day, it was about time for the NFC champions to get back to what they do best. They had to endure another, slightly more low-key media session at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay before heading to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice facility for their first on-site workout for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh.

"The first couple days you're able to come in and understand the situation and embrace it and do the media and all that," said Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, one of only five Arizona players with Super Bowl experience. "But I think as you start to get into the football thing and start watching film again and start preparations for this week, things take on a different meaning. Now you're a little more anxious, you start to think about what's going to happen on Sunday."

Running back J.J. Arrington agreed, saying that Tuesday helped him realize that this isn't just another game.

"After Media Day yesterday, it pretty much has sunk in now," Arrington said. "I just try and keep to my normal schedule and try to not let the distractions bother [me]."

Flipping the switch back to something approximating a normal game week is Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt's top priority. Though Whisenhunt noted pointedly that making the entire team available for interviews shortly before practice isn't standard operating procedure, he's doing his best to nudge his squad's attention back toward the task at hand.

"The biggest thing this week is getting back to a normal week, normalcy for our football team," Whisenhunt said. "We're always going to have distractions, but everything we do in a normal week of practice is what you have to get back to.

"I think it's all about the ability of our team to really focus on the fact that there is a football game Sunday – it's not a media event, it's not a family event – and be able to keep that businesslike approach we have the last few weeks."

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