Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians would like to see a more consistent Calais Campbell
Mar 27, 2015, 6:01 PM | Updated: 6:02 pm
In 2014, Calais Campbell tallied 59 tackles, seven sacks, three passes defensed and 17 quarterback pressures in 14 games.
It was a good season for the 28-year-old, one that was rewarded with his first Pro Bowl nod.
But Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians thinks Campbell, who has amassed 43.5 sacks in seven NFL seasons, can be even better.
“I’d like to see a more consistent player out of him,” Arians said Wednesday at the NFC Coaches Breakfast at the annual NFL Meetings. “He went to the Pro Bowl, but I still think he’s not even scratched his consistent level of play.
“He disappears too much. I told him that the other day, you can’t disappear in games anymore. You’ve got to be dominant the whole game.”
Though Campbell finished the season with three sacks, he tracked down the quarterback in just four different games. Three of his seven came in Seattle, a game where afterwards Arians said the defensive lineman could have had a couple more sacks.
But as Campbell, a second-round pick out of Miami in 2008, heads into his eighth season, he does so as a player who has been recognized as being one of the best at his position in the NFL. As a Pro Bowler, he got to spend time talking with — and learning from — some of the game’s greatest players. The confidence that comes from being in that setting could lead to a different Campbell next season. Arians, for one, is hoping it does.
“I only saw him for a minute…you automatically see swagger in a guy as he changes,” the coach said. “Haven’t been around him enough to see it to know. But I would hope — saw it in Justin Bethel, especially the second time because he’s been around rehabbing a lot. I’ve seen a little bit of it in Calais just the other day, but I want to see it on the field.”
