Dockett, Snyder former rivals on same side
Jul 27, 2012, 5:55 PM | Updated: Jul 28, 2012, 2:08 am
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — It’s got to be a little strange when a rival with
whom you’ve butted heads for seven years is suddenly wearing the
same uniform you are.
When the Arizona Cardinals signed free agent guard Adam Snyder,
formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, that’s exactly what defensive
end Darnell Dockett had to be feeling. Dockett and Snyder had
been through the rigors of NFC West battles between the two
teams — and now they’re on the same side.
Fast forward four months — now the Dockett vs. Snyder battles
have shifted location.
Instead of the two having tangles at University of Phoenix Stadium
or
Candlestick Park, they’re happening on the practice fields at NAU at
Cardinals Training Camp in Flagstaff.
“We go at it pretty much,” Dockett said Thursday. “We don’t say
much to each other going at it, then we’ll get off the field and we’ll
speak and it’s like ‘what’s up? Hi. How you doing? I’m good.
Alright. Bye.’ And then we walk away.”
Dockett says the fact that they’re on the same team hasn’t changed
the nastiness between the two on the field.
“We try to kill each other in 9-on-7, but that’s what I expect. If he
was to practice anything less than high-intensity, I’d probably say
something to him,” Dockett said. “I don’t have to worry about him,
he’s a veteran guy. Our biggest thing is trying to help each other
better and get ready for our first game of the season.”
Snyder says, at least so far, nothing has changed in the intensity
level of his matchups with Dockett — even though they’re both
Cardinals now.
“I don’t know how it differs, because he’s such an intense player
that he goes hard all the time, so I’m kind of playing a game every
practice,” Snyder said on an interview with Burns and Gambo
on Arizona Sports 620 Thursday.
But despite his new surroundings, Snyder claims he feels totally
comfortable.
“It’s been a very easy transition for me. The guys have been very
welcoming and I feel like I’ve been on this team for a long time,”
Snyder said. “That says a lot about the guys that we have in this
locker room.”
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