Kolb says criticism makes him work harder
Oct 5, 2011, 10:16 PM | Updated: Oct 6, 2011, 6:43 pm
It’s now Week 5 of the NFL season, and Cardinals fans were
probably hoping for a little more than a 1-3 record and
less than stellar play from the team’s new quarterback.
Kevin Kolb was the Cardinals biggest off-season
acquisition and was instantly rewarded with a six-year,
$65 million contract. However, as the Cardinals continue
to struggle the number of doubters continues to grow.
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt believes the criticism of Kolb
should be expected.
“You know that’s that position,” Whisenhunt said of
playing quarterback. “Everybody is going to have an
opinion about it, you’ve got to just understand that’s the
nature of the beast. You have to keep focused on what you
know you can do and look at things you can improve on.”
As it turns out Kolb is a fan of the scrutiny and has
learned not to tune out the critics.
“You rather have it this way then the other way,” Kolb
said about having strong criticism toward him. “This is
going to force all of us to work and get better as a unit
rather than starting off fast and finishing slow, that’s
not the way you want to do it.”
In the quarterback’s defense Kolb has had just more than
two months to learn the offensive system. Usually that
takes many months if not years, but Kolb didn’t have the
luxury of off-season workouts thanks to the NFL lockout.
One of the problems Kolb has faced is happy feet, meaning
the QB is too quick to leave the pocket. Kolb admits that
he has to continue to tell himself to sit in the pocket
longer to let the play develop.
Another issue Kolb is facing is his timing with the wide
outs.
“One of the biggest things is the timing of the routes
during the game,” Kolb said. “Just not being in the system
long those full 100 percent bullets that you’re throwing
in the game with the receivers running a certain tempo
just that timing and we will get there we have confidence
that we will.”
Even though Kolb is still working through these issues,
Whisenhunt knows the position is hard to learn and will
take time to master.
“It’s a very difficult position to play,” Whisenhunt said.
“There’s a lot of things that go with it, understanding
your team, getting reps all those things. Kevin will
continue to work, I love the way he works and wants to get
better and it’ll be alright.”
Although, Whisenhunt knows the team must turn it around
soon in order to remain relevant.
“It’s got to start soon there is no question about that,”
Whisenhunt said. “I wish it started four weeks ago, but
it’s not going to stop us from working, our guys believe
in what we’re trying to get done. We knew it wasn’t going
to be easy but were getting closer and our expectation is
that it’ll turn soon.”
