 |
 |
|
| | Sunday, September 26 | |||||
Associated Press | ||||||
| TEMPE, Ariz. -- Whatever questions anyone has about the Arizona Cardinals, defensive end should not be one of them.
Simeon Rice and Andre Wadsworth, both big, quick and powerful, give the team two of the NFL's best at their positions, two players who are young and should only get better. They are a major concern for the San Francisco 49ers heading into their game Monday night against the Cardinals. The 49ers have had lots of problems protecting Steve Young. Last week, the New Orleans Saints sacked Young five times and knocked him down 16 times. "Every game plan is to get after the quarterback," Wadsworth said. "If you want to beat a team, you've got to get after him, get in his face, knock him down, rattle him. Steve Young has been hit a lot of times in his career, it seems like. Hopefully, we can do a good job of getting to him." Young is well aware of the two Cardinals ends. "They have absolute speed and athleticism sideline to sideline," Young said. "They use them in multiple ways. Holy cow, I would, too, with two guys like that. They're tremendous bookends." Both were No. 3 picks in the first round, Rice in 1996 out of Illinois and Wadsworth last year out of Florida State. "They're both extremely athletic, and they're both gifted very much physically with speed and with flexibility," defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis said. "Andre's got a tremendous first punch. Simeon's got tremendous flexibility and speed off the corner. That's what makes them very special." Rice said he and Wadsworth complement each other. "There's a lot of speed and we're versatile," Rice said. "We're a little different styles of players, but we get it done. He's a hard worker, and him playing on the other side makes it easier for me. The better he does, the better I do. The better I do, the better he does." Coach Vince Tobin traces both players' strong start to the fact both were at training camp this year. Rice had missed his first three training camps, the first because of a holdout and the next two because of illness. Wadsworth didn't sign with Arizona last year until the night before the season opener. "Once you start the season you're very concerned about getting people hurt. You're into game plans. Just the basic part of defense you never catch up on," Tobin said. "Both of them caught up on the finer points of a lot of the things we do defensively. It's showing in that they're playing with a lot more confidence and allowing their ability to take over." While Wadsworth is in the second year of a six-year contract, Rice is in the final year of his. But Rice's chances of leaving the team could diminish considerably if the Cardinals make him their franchise player, a strong possibility. Whatever happens, Rice said, both of them have plenty of room for improvement. "We've got a long journey ahead of us," Rice said. "We're like a road under construction." | ALSO SEE Ron Jaworski's Monday night breakdown
Hits just keep on coming for Young
Playbook: Terrell Owens' split right scram left dragon
Baxter Bits: 49ers vs. Cardinals
 | |||||
War Room preview: 49ers at Cardinals