Cards’ Wilson out to regain hard-hitting ways

“Quiet” is not a word normally associated with safety Adrian Wilson.

He’s the guy, after all, who makes those thunderous hits. Just ask J.J. Arrington, who took one the other day from the daredevil safety.

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Yet Wilson finds himself trying to rebound from an unusually quiet 2007 season, one further muddled when he went down with a heel injury in midseason.

Before he went down, he had two interceptions and zero sacks. Those stats are positively un-Wilsonian.

(That brought his total for seven seasons with the Cardinals to 16 in each category. Only a handful of players have ever gone 20/20.)

He also was flagged for a key penalty. The refs ruled Wilson delivered a shot to the head of Todd Heap in the waning moments of a loss at Baltimore.

All in all, not his best season.

Wilson, asked to assess his year, replied, “I played pretty good. I didn’t make a lot of big plays early on. But I felt I was playing at a high level.”

Wilson feels he has a target on his back.

That’s no doubt true. After his spectacular 2006, teams started game-planning for him.

That was the year Wilson became the first player in history to record two 99-yard touchdowns in the same season without scoring on a kickoff return.

With this in mind, “It’s hard to do the things you did the previous year. You have to find a way to make the plays and be the person you are.

“That’s what I was doing.”

Even without the big numbers, Wilson accounts for much of the Cardinals’ ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks.

“He’s such a fast, big physical guy,” said coach Ken Whisenhunt. “To find a guy who can play like a linebacker … who can play like a safety in first and second down, there are not a lot of those guys around.”

Wilson’s presence allows the Cardinals to move other defenders around and try to disguise matchups.

That can lead to pressure on the quarterback and big plays on defense.

“When he was hurt, we missed that element,” Whisenhunt said.

Quarterback Matt Leinart, who has to face Wilson in practice every day, said, “There are only a few people in this league when you look at a defense, you have to game-plan around one guy. Adrian is one of them. You always have to know where No. 24 is.

“He’s gotten a lot better in pass coverage over the years. He’s as fast as anybody. ...

He probably hits harder than anybody.

“Fortunately I don’t have to play against him in the regular season.”

Wilson suggests his absence in 2007 was terrible for both himself and the Cardinals.

“I’m good for three games,” he said, giving his matter-of-fact judgment on his yearly effect on the win-loss columns. “Take that how you want to take it.”

With what happened last year in mind, he said, “I’m more motivated. Like I’ve always said, I feel I’m the best safety in the league, arguably.

“It’s for me to go out and prove that. Last year, I took a step back. Now I kind of have to gain two steps to get back to where I was.”

Wilson delivered that message with an exclamation point with a vicious hit on Arrington in one of the early practices.

“You get anxious to get that first hit out. Unfortunately, it was J.J.”

Wilson suggested he’s not trying to level his teammates before the real games start, saying, “I have plenty of time to prove who I am.”

And if anybody has forgotten his identity, Wilson said, “They’re going to have a rude awakening.”