All-Access with Cole Toner — Aug. 16: Avoiding the accountability board
Aug 16, 2017, 11:01 AM
During training camp, Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Cole Toner will join Doug and Wolf every morning on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station, to give an inside look at the daily grind of camp and a personal view of how his 2017 preparation is coming along.
When fans attend open Arizona Cardinals training camp practices at University of Phoenix Stadium, they’re hoping the team is in full pads because it’s a little closer to real football.
The players, especially in the fourth week of camp, don’t share that mindset.
A full-padded practice is on tap for Wednesday afternoon in Glendale and the reason is clear.
“We didn’t practice well enough (Tuesday),” Cole Toner said Wednesday morning in relaying the message from head coach Bruce Arians. “We’ve got to find a way to practice better and we’re doing that in full pads until we do.”
Toner called that development “discouraging,” but somewhat expected, given the amount of mental errors the team has accumulated.
“On the sheet last night, there was a good amount of M.E.’s,” he said. “I actually didn’t find myself up there, which is good for me.”
The accountability board is a grading tool used by the Arizona coaching staff. Not only does it send a message to the player about errors, but it does so in a very public way. Toner intimated that the board works.
“There’s no doing anything about it,” he said. “You see yourself, you try to get better. The coaches have control of who they put on there and who they don’t. Sometimes they’ll miss stuff. Usually, they catch it. Sometimes coaches will tell you to do something and you’re on there and you try to get it right.
“For the most part, they’re right about stuff. You just kind of go with it. If you see yourself up there, take your ‘L’ and move on.”
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