The Arizona Cardinals had a bonus day of practice this week after their return from the bye and that meant the winner of the Pat Tillman Scout Team Player of the Week was able to wear the special No. 40 jersey for an extra day.
Backup quarterback Clayton Tune was the recipient, thanks to the job he did emulating Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers in practice that week.
Had coach Jonathan Gannon noted, “We didn’t jump offsides one time against the Jets. I think we jumped offsides four times in practice because of the cadence, so I thought he did an excellent job there. Obviously, he was dealing it in practice, and that was a huge part of the winning edge for us was cadence and he did a good job with it.”
That was especially true thanks to the success Rodgers has had over the years inducing defenders to jump.
Gannon called him “one of the best ever. He gets everybody multiple times in a game. He didn’t get us once. I thought the Red Sea had something to do with that too. I thought it was loud, so that probably minimized it a little bit. Throughout the week, we pointed it out after each practice that we were jumping offsides and we did a couple different things to try to mimic it. Clayton did a good job. That was a huge part of that game.
“You don’t want to give him free plays, not just the five yards. If you look over his career, but we showed them a tape with 18 touchdown passes because people are jumping offsides and he is throwing the ball up and down the field. So we had our standard operating procedure on how he wanted to handle that if we did (jump offsides). I thought it was a good job by the collective group to read their keys.”
Tune said of Rodgers, “He’s a master at using cadence and getting the D-line to jump offsides and get free plays so that was a huge point of emphasis and I did my best to do his impression and try to get them to jump offsides. I think it worked. I think our D-line was pretty disciplined against the Jets.
“I was trying to dial it up and get creative and do everything I could to get them to jump. In the game they were able to hold off, so I’m proud of them for that.”
Tune said he figured out what to do in practice from watching Rodgers during his entire career: “Just watching his mannerisms and it’s really about voice inflection and body language and stuff, so it seems like you’re calling for the ball in the first cadence when you’re really not. So I think it’s just the culmination of watching him over the course of his career.”
As for the jersey, Tune said, “It’s really cool. It’s awesome. It’s an honor to be able to wear the same number and have the camo on the jersey.
“I’d always heard the stories and I believe there was A Football Life documentary on him on NFL Network. I remember watching that as a kid, so I was always familiar with him. I didn’t know about his entire story, but I knew he was a great player and a great person.”
He and all the players see the shrine to Tillman in his preserved locker all the time.
“It’s definitely something that you see every day,” Tune said. “You don’t ignore it. You walk by it and you look at it and it’s cool to see and you have respect for him in that locker.”
Players are motivated to win the award each week, and Gannon announces the winner during a team meeting the day before the game.
When he heard his name called, Tune said, “I smiled and I was proud to be able to have that honor and am hoping to try and do it again.”
2024 Pat Tillman Scout-Team Award Winners
Week 1: RB Michael Carter (practice squad)
Week 2: LB Markus Bailey (practice squad)
Week 3: WR Andre Baccellia (practice squad)
Week 4: OL Jon Gaines II
Week 5: WR Xavier Weaver
Week 6: DL P.J. Mustipher (practice squad)
Week 7: S Joey Blount
Week 8: WR Chris Moore (practice squad)
Week 9: OLB Ronnie Perkins (practice squad)
Week 10: QB Clayton Tune
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