He arizona cardinals They’ll have their work cut out for them heading into the offseason, but five-time Pro Bowler Budda Baker will surely be hoping to avoid the pitfalls of last year that he says left the team ill-prepared heading into the season.
Before Sunday’s Pro Bowl flag football game, Baker spoke about the Cardinals’ lack of preparation in training camp, which he said was evident early in the season following their Week 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid scores an extra point against the Cardinals on September 11, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
«It started with the beginning of the season in training camp when we had a lot of injuries,» Baker told NFL.com on Saturday.
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«[Kyler Murray] I was sick. We didn’t really have a lot of players practicing and doing a lot during training camp, which then of course led to that kind of show in Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs.»
Cardinals’ Budda Baker during the New England Patriots game at State Farm Stadium on December 12, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Despite finishing second in the NFC West with an 11-6 record the previous season alone, the Cardinals began the 2022 season with a 44-21 loss to the Chiefs.
«I definitely felt like we were on the right track,» he continued. «You know, in training camp it was definitely surprising not to see a lot of the starters practicing and things like that. Because I knew, you know, especially with preseason games, none of us played in preseason, it’s kind of like camp. of training, in which there were not many people, and then we got to Week 1, it showed who was ready.
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«I don’t think we were as prepared early on when it all started than we could have been.»
The Cardinals finished the season 4-13. Coach Kliff Kingsbury he was then fired after four seasons with the organization, and Monti Ossenfort was introduced as the new general manager in place of longtime general manager Steve Keim.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury looks up at the scoreboard during a Broncos game on December 18, 2022 in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
«Nobody here is happy with the results of last year,» Ossenfort said during his introductory news conference last month. «But it wasn’t that long ago that this team was in a good position. I witnessed that firsthand two years ago when this organization came to Tennessee and Nissan Stadium and ran us over.»
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«That’s what we’re going back to.»
The Cardinals have yet to name a new head coach.
Associated Press contributed to this report.