Back from bye, Cardinals turn focus to themselves

Oct 17, 2011, 8:28 PM | Updated: 10:02 pm

The Arizona Cardinals are 1-4 while the San Francisco
49ers are 5-1.

While media and fans alike may be paying close attention
to the standings, the Cardinals say they’re not really
concerned with what’s happening by the bay.

“You can’t worry about that,” Cardinals coach Ken
Whisenhunt said. “All I can worry about is where we are
and what we’ve got to do.

“If we can take care of our business first all that stuff
will take care of itself.”

Indeed, what the 49ers are doing won’t matter so long as
the Cardinals continue to struggle. That’s why, to a man,
the Cardinals insist their focus is purely on themselves
and what they can do to get better.

“We aren’t worried about what they’re doing, we’ve got to
get better as a team,” defensive lineman Darnell Dockett
said. “We’ll see them when we see them.”

Dockett and the Cardinals will not see the 49ers until
November 20th, and if the season continues at its current
pace Arizona could be all but officially eliminated from
playoff contention when the teams square up at Candlestick
Park.

But again, none of that matters.

Coming off a bye week the team gets ready to host the
defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and, sure
enough, the Cardinals aren’t really focused on them,
either.

“Our biggest thing is not worrying about what Pittsburgh
can do, not worrying about our next opponent, just worry
about one play at a time, everybody doing the correct job
and see what happens from there,” Dockett said.

So whether that means extra practice, more time watching
film or just staying focused during the games, Dockett
said the team needs to do whatever it takes to get this
thing turned around.

“At the end of the day we walk on the field, we’re a
product of what we put out,” he said. “Our main step now
is to do more and do what we need to do to win ballgames
and be consistent.”

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

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Back from bye, Cardinals turn focus to themselves