Arians still upset about chop block, says Campbell will miss 1 to 3 weeks

Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Monday defensive end Calais Campbell will be out for at least the team’s Sunday matchup with the Washington Redskins following a chop block that drew Arians’ ire.

“Calais has got a sprained medial collateral ligament and (he’ll be out) anywhere from one to three weeks,” Arians told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “He has no structural damage; just a sprain.”

Campbell suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Cardinals’ 41-20 loss to the Broncos when he was hit low by Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas. After the game, Arians said the hit was the dirtiest he ever witnessed.

On Monday, Arians stood by those remarks.

“They can sugarcoat it any way they want. The worst kind of chop block is when a guy never expects it. That’s when somebody flashes their hands to pass-block you and somebody hits you from the side,” he said.

“If they’re engaged with you and you feel people around your legs, very seldom do you see those guys get injured. I’ve not seen very many of what they call lower chop blocks, where a guy sets you up and another guy whacks you from the side like that, and then gets up and runs away.”

If any member of the Broncos’ coaching staff encourages that kind of play, Arians said he would expect head coach John Fox to speak up.

“I would hope that he would talk to his staff, and if it was (encouraged), get it corrected,” he said.

Earlier Monday, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said the hit to Campbell, which resulted in a penalty, was frustrating to watch.

“I have not seen on many occasions, or ever at all, a tight end that is going to chip and release, and go straight for a player’s knees on the chip, particularly when he’s about to be engaged with (Broncos offensive lineman) Ryan Clady,” Keim told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I think the rulebook clearly defines that issue, and the official called it appropriately on the field.

“It’s a frustrating thing to see, and hopefully we’ll never see that again.”

Keim said he’d be open to a rule change in which a chop block similar to the one executed by Thomas could be reviewed by officials and lead to an ejection.

“I think that’s something that we’ll probably talk about at the league meetings. I know the league has tried to make concerted efforts to try to clean up things such as chop blocks and illegal hits, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see that coming in the near future.”