Familiarity leads to preparation for Cardinals vs. Redskins

Coming off a Week 1 win the Arizona Cardinals are looking to improve on a less than stellar defensive performance as they take on the Washington Redskins.

The Cardinals gave up more than 400 yards of offense to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, most of which came through the air.

“I think that we have to play better pass coverage than we did,” head coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “Did a good job against the run and got pressure on the quarterback, but can’t give up those big plays some of it was technique some of it was mental lapses.”

If the same Cardinals defense shows up on Sunday, then Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman and former Cardinal running back Tim Hightower should come out of the game pleased with their performances.

“If I was him [Tim Hightower] I would be looking forward to playing our defense as well,” Whisenhunt said. “So hopefully we’ll get a little better this week.”

With regards to Hightower, Whisenhunt is happy to see the running back succeeding in Washington.

“Tim’s a good football player and we are looking forward to facing him on Sunday,” Whisenhunt said. “Every week you play you’re going against good football players.”

While Whisenhunt and the Cardinals are familiar with Hightower, quarterback Kevin Kolb, a former Eagle, is familiar with the very team he is playing Sunday.

That means the QB does have knowledge of the Redskins system, which Whisenhunt is using to his advantage.

“From a standpoint of input from Kevin he definitely helps as far as the personnel and things that they’ve done against him in the past,” Whisenhunt said. “It’s all part of the preparation.”

Arizona Sports’ Kyndra de St. Aubin contributed to this report

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