Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Dante Stills ready to perform in Year 2
Aug 1, 2024, 5:00 PM | Updated: Aug 2, 2024, 4:31 am
(Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports)
Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Dante Stills said he is more comfortable headed into his second season in the NFL and is ready to perform.
“Last year, I was all new to this and I was trying to make my way, day by day but now I feel like I’m more comfortable coming out here and performing at the highest level,” Stills told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke Thursday.
Despite being more ready for this season compared to his rookie year, Stills is still working to improve his play.
“It’s so hard to pick one thing (to improve on) because I feel like I got to be good at every level that I might play with when it comes to footwork, hand placement, hand eye coordination, being able to get off a block, being able to control blocks,” Stills said. “I feel like everything going into this camp is preparing for all things necessary.”
Stills said he and the team are responding well to defensive coordinator Nick Rallis and that it will help the team.
“He’s very different than a lot of coaches I’ve played for,” Stills said. “I’m definitely seeing a lot of different things being accumulated to it and put on paper that we all like and are going to contribute to the team very well.”
Stills is excited for the team’s defense and is enthusiastic about what they can do this season.
“They’re definitely some hunters on this team. Guys are very excited to go out there and run around and make plays and be physical and be violent,” Stills said. “It’s a good group and I’m definitely excited this year to see what we can do.”
In his rookie season, Stills played in 15 games, totaling 47 total tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Stills acknowledges the team and specifically the defense is young, but he embraces it.
“We are all locked in and focused on what we got to do on the field,” Stills said. “Once you get in between the white lines, the young, older kind of don’t matter. We don’t really (think) about we are a young team. We just go out there and try to play good ball.”