All coaches have certain phrases they often use as points of emphasis in communication with players. They naturally creep into conversations they have with the media.
With Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, a list is being compiled.
It includes Gannon’s five buckets or keeping the main thing the main thing. Players often drop them into their responses during interviews.
We learned a new one this week when Gannon was asked Monday what edge rusher Cameron Thomas needs to do to continue to improve after having two sacks against the Colts last Saturday.
Thomas was a third-round pick in 2022 and is now in his second season with Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis. He was also inactive for the final two games of the 2023 season.
Gannon spoke to the media about 30 minutes earlier than Thomas and unknown to Thomas was what the head coach said when asked about what he has to do to be consistent.
“Throwing his fastball,” Gannon said. “Here’s where he does really good at and do that as much as you can. He’s done a good job. We’ve mixed him in different spots particularly on pass downs. He had a good game; played well.”
So it was that when Thomas was asked what he focused on this offseason after discussions with Gannon after the season, as if on cue, he said, “He always calls it ‘throwing your fastball.’ Whatever it’s going to do to make you win, use it. I think being able to express that, being able to play consistent. Maybe just a little bit more power, power, power and then throw a fastball, throw a speed move off the edge, it definitely allows you to play fast, free.”
Thomas acknowledged what he had to contend with in Year 2 when the coaching change was made.
“Going back to my first year, trying to be a rookie, trying to walk in and learn the whole scheme, and then having to scrap all that and go to a whole other scheme; I wouldn’t say it was a setback, but definitely it was a learning curve. Having this year to be able to come back with the same scheme, with the same coaches and a lot of the same players, I definitely think it helps. I definitely feel a lot more comfortable and be able to go out and play fast and free.”
As for his mindset and approach after not getting on the field at the end of the season, he said, “I think a big reason to why I got to the NFL and got here is the consistency in my approach and my day-to-day. Whether it’s waking up in the morning, the same breakfast, keeping the same routine, keeping it consistent every single day; really not changing everything up because I know what works for me.”
There are different skillsets in the edge-rusher room, and many on the outside wonder if this group will be able to get the job done this season, especially after the loss of BJ Ojulari to a torn ACL.
“Obviously, BJ’s one of our brothers, one of our dogs that likes to hunt with us,” Thomas said. “When he went down it was devastating to all of us. Everybody in that room knew that they had to pick it up. He’s a great player and he had a big role so this team, we all strapped it up and knew that we all had to do our part.”
Position coach Rob Rodriguez helps keep the unit on task.
Thomas said, “I think he really sets the standard in our room. We call it the pass-rush mechanics. If you can do you within those mechanics, you’re gonna do a great job. I think he does a fantastic job teaching us mechanics and letting everybody be themselves off his mechanics.
“Something I really love about this edge group on this team is we’re really a tight-knit group. We’re a pack of dogs out there all hunting together. When one of us eats, we all eat.”
Returning to the fastball theme, Thomas said he spent time “reflecting a little bit this offseason what that fastball is for me. I’m a bigger, more lengthier dude, so if I can use that in my rushes consistently, I’m using more power here and there and I get the o-lineman to think this guy’s gonna bring the heat again, I’m getting him to sit down a little bit and that’s where that fastball comes in 100 percent what that fastball is.
“It could be a couple of different moves. It could be a side scissors, cross chop. It kind of goes back and forth, but it’s being able to have a switch-up and being able to have kind of a base. It’s important.”
What’s most important, of course, is showing up on the stat sheet while affecting the quarterback, whether it’s with a sack, pressure or hit and helping the defense win.
“Every time getting home, it’s the best feeling in the world,” Thomas concluded. “Whether it ends up in a sack or ends up in a pressure, you do your job and let somebody else come free.”
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