The last time we talked in depth with Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork, the team had played three games and was 1-2.
Now, seven games later, the Cardinals are coming off their bye and preparing to play the division-rival Seahawks while in first place in the NFC West at 6-4.
It seemed like a good time to talk with Woolfork again, especially about the growth he has seen from quarterback Kyler Murray.
Here is that Q&A from Friday after the final practice of the week.
Q: Is there a key to throwing a wet football?
A: We’re prepared for it. Obviously, it’s one part of the game. Ball security is going to be as important as ever, as always, as it always is in our mind. But I don’t see it being a factor.
Q: When you look at Kyler’s body of work, what have you been most impressed by this year?
A: Consistency. There have been some ups, been some downs. He hasn’t wavered one bit. He’s come to work every single day. He’s built on the good and learned from the bad. That’s all we can ask for. And he’s been a constant person in the locker room and just who he is as a person obviously. Just come and work every day.
Q: Ball security is obviously important. Do you actually have those conversations about ball security or is it always understood?
A: We start our team meetings talking about the ball. We start our position meetings talking about the ball and what the defense does a good job of doing. Whether it’s punching the ball out. Baiting quarterbacks into making bad decisions. Because the ball’s the most important thing when we’re playing a game. You look around the league. Teams that are winning have low turnover rates. So obviously we’ve done a good job this year, not putting the ball in harm’s way and I think at times, let’s put it in position to help us win the game.
Q: What is leading to Kyler’s ability to take care of the ball?
A: Control what we can control and it starts with just our eyes starting in the right spot. We have plans for each one of our dropback passes or play-action passes and our feet. You gotta listen to your feet. We have certain jobs for certain plays. If you go to that drop and it’s not there, just progress with the read and then if that’s not there, you gotta figure out either you get the ball out of bounds or run with your feet. So just staying consistent, just worry about the things we can eyeball with. Not worry about what the defense does, but what we do, who we are and what we’re supposed to do for our job. I think that’s the key.
Q: His operation on a weekly basis has drawn a lot of praise from (head coach) Jonathan (Gannon) over this season. What stood out to you about how Kyler has operated this year? In the meeting room, playing, mostly how he’s handled the offense. How he goes through his reads, his checks, handling all that.
A: I think it’s like, we talked about timing, him progressing over time. If you look at him right now, what this is, I don’t know off the top (of my head), of the 17, 18 games (it’s 18). So, you’re talking about a full season he’s been in this offense. So, first time since coming back from injury and a year in, he’s learned how to prepare better, what he needs more time with learning. Whether that’s game-plan wise or what the defense is and what he needs from me and (offensive coordinator) Drew (Petzing) on a day-to-day basis to get him ready to play on Sunday. So he knows what he needs and we try to give him that information so he can go out there and perform and help the team win.
Q: Drew’s talked a lot about Kyler making the right decisions related to ball security. What are all the things that he has to understand that he has to be doing right in order to be in the spot to make the right decision when that time comes?
A: He’s the quarterback. He’s everything, right? (laughs) You got to know protection. You gotta know coverage. You gotta know what the D-line’s doing. You gotta know what the ‘backers on the defenses are doing. The back end. Overall, there are different keys to what we’re asking him to do on each play. Some plays, it’s hiding awareness on the back end. Certain plays, it has to do with the front, whether it’s a run check. So him just being dialed in and what we’re asking him to do from a coaching staff and from our offense and really just knowing. Not thinking, but knowing-knowing what he’s supposed to do. I think that’s the key to it.
Q: What’s it like breaking down that last game when he was 17-for-his-last-17 and 22-of-24? Is it challenging to find things to break down?
A: There are always certain things. Honestly, it’s fun on Mondays coming in here and watching tape like that. It’s a little bit more exciting than coming off a loss. But, like we say, there are little things that we have to continue to get better at. There are things in that game that are not seen by the average fans’ eyes that he did that we got to clean up on that could cause losing down the road or just help a play out with the running after a fake. Just small things like that. So that’s been impressive too. Just his maturation as a human being, as a player. It’s just like even after a game, like he’ll say, “Hey what’d you see? And be honest with me. I need to know what I need to get better at so that can help me out in the future.”
Q: How much do you think he’s grown going through the progressions, getting the ball where it’s supposed to when he has to move, keeping his eyes down the field?
A: It’s been crazy because obviously he started his career doing a really good job of that. But coming into a new offense, changing his feet, changing his drop, changing his progressions on what we’re doing. That was the big change for him, but just him consistently coming in every day watching defense, watching tape and doing what we’re asking. I think that’s been helping him throughout the time playing quarterback for us.
Q: What’s impressed you most of how he’s been able to handle everything that was put in front of him?
A: He just bought into it. He knows that for us to win games, he has to play at a high level. Look at the quarterbacks in the league where the teams that have really good records have quarterbacks that are playing at a high level. So he knows a lot has to be on his shoulders, but also just like being mature enough to say, “Hey, I need more time doing this. Like, when you’re saying this, this doesn’t make sense to me. What’s the answer to the test from this situation?” So not just saying, “Yes, yeah, I get what we’re doing,” but if something doesn’t make sense he’ll stop me in a meeting room. He’ll stop me at practice and say, “Hey, talk me through this. If I get this in a game, what should be my response.” So I think that just strengthens what we’re asking him to do.
Q: Is all of that just so he can be instinctual out there and not having to take an extra beat to think?
A: I have never played in the NFL, so I couldn’t tell you this. But when you talk to guys when they play at a high level, they’re not thinking, they’re reacting. So you know what you’re doing, or what your teammates are supposed to do. And you know in the big picture, it allows you to react at a different level. You’re not like, “Hey, should I be here? Should I be doing this?” You start with your eyes, you start your feet in a direction. If you feel that read, take away that, you know on the back end it should be open and then just going through the progressions of that. But I just think knowing-knowing helps you play fast and he knows what we’re trying to do with the confidence in the offense week in and week out.
Q: You mentioned the progressions in the drops changing in the new offense. How did those things change and how did he adjust to that?
A: It just differs from going from (former head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s) to the West Coast system that we have implemented. I know we have a little bit of stuff in the read-run game and a little bit of spread nuances, but just from progression standpoint and philosophy of the offense are just two different things.
Q: How much do you think that growth is a big part of just how comfortable he feels with you, with Drew and all those things that really has him on point?
A: It’s important because it allows him to be free and ask questions. Sometimes, I’ve been in situations where I play for guys where you don’t want to come off as not knowing or intimidated by the situation. But he knows we’re open, we know that he’s comfortable with us and we got his back, no matter what. And I think JG and Drew do a really good job of communicating to him what they expect from him week in and week out and then we get the game plan going together. And then my job is to try to give him the information as best as possible so he can go out there and perform.
Q: Are you surprised what he can do with his feet and extend plays, make plays?
A: I’m not surprised. He’s been doing that since Pop Warner (laughter). You can see tapes from high school. It’s just been amazing. It adds an element obviously in the run game and then in front of the movements for us. And then his ability to; you don’t see him get hit. I think last week against the Jets, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him get hit. But other than that, he does a really good job of protecting himself and then helping the team win games.
Q: Jonathan gave him a lot of credit for you guys being perfect in goal-to-go situations; 16-for-16. What goes into that? What is he recognizing pre-snap that produces those results?
A: Drew puts together a really good plan week in and week out. Whether we’re structured around 11 personnel, whether we get heavy with all the tight ends on the field and then within that, we still do dropback game for all different personnel groupings. We still do the run game. And when you’re having a whole bunch of heavy bodies out there, that allows the elements of Kyler to pull it. So just figuring out which ways we’re going to attack the defense and help him out in better situations.
Q: What are you thoughts with how you are there with what’s happening around the league with sacks, interceptions being down?
A: Great quarterback coaching right? (laughs hard). I don’t know. I didn’t really look into that. But I just say, honestly, I know from our part, Kyler does a really good job not putting the ball in harm’s way and we try to not put him in situations or preach when he should have a heightened sense of awareness of when it’s time to take chances to when it’s not. We preach here situational football when it comes to that.
Q: Has it always been your philosophy to start meetings with talking about ball security. Where does that come from?
A: Jonathan Gannon. I thinkthe ball, the ball, the ball. You hear him in his press conference. He got me going on this. So now the ball’s the most important thing.
Q: Do you ever as you’re watching a play like the one say to Trey (McBride) where he’s rolling right and just kind of launched it. Going to Elijah (Higgins) earlier in the season. Do you ever say, “Man what are you doing” and then all of a sudden it’s, “OK, I see what he’s doing?”
A: At times, but that’s what’s behind Kyler Murray. We can draw plays and then something can break down and he has the ability to make people miss and create those spectacular plays. Makes us look really good, right?
Q: Speaking of preaching to him, have you had to preach the idea that any completion is almost better than a sack or an interception or anything like that?
A: I wouldn’t say preach. As we continue to go through the season, we talk about taking care of the ball’s the most important thing. All I say to him is completions are at a premium. There’s times to take chances, times to check the ball down. We gotta take what the defense gives us and at times we’ll scheme ‘em up where we can take shots down the field and then do a good job of getting deep. And then we have underneath stuff open. Just making sure that we listen to our feet and our eyes are good.
Q: When you sit down to talk with him right after a game, are you guys breaking down the decisions? Or when you’re sitting there at his locker with him are you going over more general stuff?
A: Yeah, it’s just when we get done playing, the game’s really fresh in his mind. And I saw from the sideline, he saw it through his own eyes and I just want to get an idea at that time before I go home and watch it. Like, “Hey, What’d you see? How do you feel? What could you have done better? What areas do you think that you can improve. In what areas do you think you did well?” And then kind of just get that mental note in my head. I go back and watch the tape and then like, “Hey, it’s been 24 hours after we last talked. How do you feel about that? Do you still feel the same or did the tape tell you something different?”
Q: Are there times where you maybe thought live, I don’t like that. But then when you’re talking through it with him afterward, did you change your mind on it?
A: Yeah. It’s human nature. But like he’s doing it and he has his ability to feel stuff out in the field. I’m not playing. So he could have saw something from a stance from a spacing standpoint that I couldn’t see from the sideline. So I never question his decision making. I just like to know what led up to that decision; the process of doing that. And then, how can we continue to build on that?
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.