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Cardinals' Warner minimizing miscues
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VIENNA, VA. - If Kurt Warner turns the ball over about once every three games, the Cardinals should be fine this season.
That's the bottom line so far on what may be the season's key stat.
Warner has lost no fumbles. Even his one interception - though it was the biggest play in the Cardinals' sole loss - was a bit of a fluke; it was deflected and bounced high before it was picked off.
The reasons for Warner's success in this area are due, in part, to an approach to play-calling that's been cautious at times. But it's also a notable part of the preparation by the coaching staff and Warner.
"We work on a lot of drills," Warner said.
He runs around cones to simulate moving in the pocket. He has coaches slap at the ball while he's moving.
For Warner, "The biggest detriment when it comes to ball security is when I take seven-step drops and I'm pushing up in the pocket. I have a tendency to drop the ball," he said. "When you're moving in the pocket, there's always that tendency. We try to simulate that as much as possible."
The point is for the team's quarterbacks always to have two hands on the ball "so that it becomes subconscious, natural."
Warner flashed a turnover-avoiding move Sunday at Washington when he was about to be sacked. He rolled left and got rid of the ball with his left hand.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt doesn't really enjoy discussing the subject much, lest he wake the sleeping football gods and see a rash of turnovers bedevil his team.
But he did say, "Kurt has done a very good job, as all of our quarterbacks have, of working on those drills ... working diligently on footwork and ball security.
"It's rewarding as a coach to see our quarterback moving around in the pocket while protecting the football.
"When you start to work on those things enough, it gets into their consciousness and maybe it helps."
Neither the Cardinals nor any other football team will eliminate turnovers completely.
But if Warner can average one every three games, nobody will complain.
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