Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb tunes out criticism, ready to play Eagles
Sep 20, 2012, 1:25 AM | Updated: 4:58 pm
When the Arizona Cardinals acquired Kevin Kolb from the Philadelphia Eagles, they thought they were getting their franchise quarterback of the future.
While Kolb’s time in the desert has been rocky, to say the least, the 28-year-old is hoping to continue his road to redemption when he faces his former team on Sunday.
If he’s taken anything of value from his experience in Philadelphia, it’s how to handle adversity in one of the toughest markets to play.
“When it’s high there, when things are going good, you can’t buy into it because there is a lot of hype,” Kolb stated. “Everybody is patting you on the back. And when it’s low, good gosh, is the sun going to come up tomorrow?”
And while Arizona isn’t nearly as intense of an environment, Kolb said he tries for the most part to tune out criticism.
“Most the time I don’t even read it,” Kolb said. “I don’t know about it. If it’s valid then I try to work on it.”
Kolb is certainly still working on trying to win over Cardinals fans. But, he’s accepted the highs and lows that go with playing such a high profile position.
“As a quarterback especially, you have to be able to ride those waves and stay level-headed with every experience,” Kolb said.
Kolb has shown his fair share of resiliency so far this season, filling in admirably for the injured John Skelton. He is 21-for-35 for 206 yards and two touchdowns in the Cardinals two wins this year.
Despite the notion that Kolb might have an edge when facing the Eagles due to his past ties with Andy Reid’s squad, the Cardinals signal caller said he’s not as familiar as you might think.
“The problem is that [Juan Castillo] wasn’t the defensive coordinator when I was there so they have a different defense and they’ve changed a lot from last year,” Kolb said. “I think most of the advantage is going to be me just talking to the defensive guys and helping them out with the system but now that I am a year and a half removed I am not sure if it’s quite as fresh in my mind as it was.”
The Cardinals are hoping any insight Kolb can provide will help them secure their third win of the season Sunday.
