The Arizona Cardinals special teams underachieved last season, and there were numerous reasons why that happened.
One was the loss of special teams captain Joey Blount, who suffered a season-ending neck injury on kickoff coverage with 23 seconds remaining in halftime of the Week 1 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Blount wore many hats, including being the gunner on punt coverage. In the 15 games he played in 2024, Blount participated in 268 snaps (70 percent).
He is back and participating in training camp, which makes new special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial happy.
Working with Blount for the first time, Ghobrial said, “(I'm) thoroughly impressed with his veteran leadership, number one — a guy that's played that much ball and is still
hungry to learn every single day. So when you have a guy in the meeting room that's not afraid to ask questions, I think it’s really influential on some of the young players that we have, and when he operates that way all the time and doesn't pick and choose when he wants to be that guy. I think it's very, very cool from a coaching perspective to where I'm appreciative of having that type of personality in the room.
“Then you talk about the player—obviously a guy that's had a lot of success in this league on special teams, a guy that practices the right way, and a guy I know is hungry to come back off of injury and for the love of the game. So I'm really excited to work with Joey. He's done a lot of good things in the past couple of days, so we're just going to keep going with arrow up with him.”
Ghobrial was asked if guys like Blount are different in how they approach the game compared to those who are starters or competing for those roles on the roster.
He said, “I don't necessarily think so because you have guys like, for example, Budda Baker, who obviously has played a lot of defense in this league, and who operates at a high level as well. I think it's just honestly being a true professional and handling your business. Fulfilling all your obligations, preparing the right way in the meeting room, preparing the right way off the field, and then obviously practicing the right way. I think that's just what this league is. And to be able to have a successful career in this league, you need to be able to operate at that level regardless of what your role is.”
Ghobrial reflected on what he communicated after coming to the Cardinals on head coach Mike LaFleur’s staff.
“One of the things I first hit (on) when I got a chance to work with these players was we're not going to talk about roles and I'm going to prepare everybody on this team,” he said. “Once we get to the nitty-gritty and we get to a place in camp or maybe a place in the season where this guy's playing this many snaps, this guy's playing this many snaps, or maybe you're doing both, playing on offense, defense and special teams, we'll take a common-sense approach of how many reps you'll get.
“But it doesn't short-change the preparation it takes whether you're a full-time defensive or offensive starter or full-time core special teamer. I think both are important in winning football games.”
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals training camp: Return of Joey Blount good for special teams
