Calais Campbell – October 27, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 27, 2024
Postgame – Arizona Cardinals
DT Calais Campbell
Q. What happened in the second half with the defense?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: Missed opportunities, you know, Kyler Murray played a great game and it’s heart-breaking because I feel like we played great defense the last few weeks. First half, we were rolling and, it’s the NFL, though. It’s a momentum game and Kyler made some big-time plays in big moments and the ball kind of just bounced their way in moments, too. Like rarely do you get a sack fumble and the quarterback picks it up and throws it away and then goes and scores a touchdown that drive. It’s just like, wow. Like what happens in that moment is just — it’s tough. But you got to take your hat off. Kyler Murray played a heck of a game.
Q. What’s it like trying to corral a quarterback like Kyler Murray with his elusiveness back there?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: It’s tough. He’s up there in the best in the business making guys miss and we had a lot of opportunities on him. A lot of guys, unblocked, getting to him and he just makes a guy miss and throws the ball away. Those are hidden yardage, those are big plays, especially when it comes to momentum and the way the ball game goes. Those plays – you make them, it’s a whole different ball game. Too many times and I think just we got in a situation where they kind of run past and they run the ball well late in that last drive and it’s heartbreaking and then just that last play Kyler did to get that third and four or whatever, you know he’s going to keep the ball, just, like man, inches, game of inches. He just make a heck of a play. You’ve got to take your hat off to him, great ball game.
Q. As you watch Tua play – not just from a football perspective but also keep in mind the bigger picture, everything that’s gone on. What goes through your mind as you watch that today?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: He played a heck of a ball game. Tua played a heck of a ball game. He gave us a chance to win and it was fun to watch, you know? He was scrambling for that first down on 39 in the red zone, you’re like ‘slide, slide, slide, don’t try to get no courage there.’ But he’s smart. He knows don’t take unnecessary risks, but he’s a phenomenal quarterback. It’s different when he’s out there and it’s good to see him out there. He played a great ball game. It hurts that we didn’t win this ball game, especially for him, but for all of us just because of where we’re at as a team, but as long as there’s life left, we’re going to fight. I still believe this team has everything it takes to win and hopefully we’re building character. Obviously it doesn’t really matter until you do something with it, say all the right stuff but none of it really matters. It just comes down to believing and fighting and hopefully executing and getting back in this thing, you know?
Q. How do you think the impact of some key players due to injury – Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Zach Sieler, Jevón Holland, Kader Kohou, others, how do you think that impacts the result?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: I mean, you remove players that’s tough, you know? You lose players, it’s tough. I don’t know exactly what happened to the guys – just kind of like you’re in the full speed thick of things and things just kind of happen and you realize guys are not out there anymore. It’s not like there’s a big announcement or anything like that. I noticed that ‘8’ (Jevón Holland) wasn’t out there and he’s a tone-setter. He’s a big-time player for us and that was a big loss. I don’t even know how many – you just gave me more information just now. I didn’t even realize. It’s kind of like do your job and farm your own land and make sure I’m on point but any time you lose guys, that makes it tough, just changes things, communication and flow and rhythm and rapport. All that stuff matters so Zach not being out there is huge and guys stepped up and played well in his absence, but it’s just a difference when you have the rapport and that connection. I think especially in the pass rush game and stuff like that, he’s such a force but (Da’Shawn) Hand played great. I feel like we had opportunities to win the ball game we just didn’t.
Q. What were your thoughts on Marvin Harrison seeing him for the first time?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: He made some big-time catches. Two really big ones on the sideline, one for the touchdown that they reviewed. Those were huge plays. Tough balls, Kyler gave him an opportunity and he made the catches. Great players in this league all around and he’s another one. Good, young player that’s probably going to be really good in this league for a long time to come as long as he stays healthy. As a football fan, I admire talent and greatness and I like to see guys develop, but it sure hurts when they do it to you. It sure when they make big plays against us, so it is what it is.
Q. What were some of the issues of covering the tight end, Trey McBride?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: I mean, I think he just – we had good coverage on him, he just made plays. They do a good job of finding ways to get him the ball in space and stuff. A lot of times it’s deep to short and take the check down to him and he makes guys miss because he’s a great athlete but another great player. Talented as can be. It’s just football. You go back and forth, but they made enough plays to win and we didn’t. I feel like we’ve got great players and we could win this ball game the majority of the time, especially the way the game went. It was our game probably nine out of ten times, but rolling, got momentum and then I think, you know, safety, touchdown, ball game changes, you know?
Q. You’re obviously a leader on this team and I feel like you touched on it earlier, but what do you tell the guys on this team as you guys are now 2-5?
CALAIS CAMPBELL: I mean, to fight, you know? To stay the course, stay together. At the end of the day, nobody’s going to come and get us out of this hole. It’s just us. Ain’t nobody coming to save the day. It’s us going out there and fighting, playing for 60 minutes, preparing the best we can and leaving it all out there on the football field. I think the belief and knowing that if we put the work in is going to pay off. If we sacrifice, it’s going to pay off. That’s the ball game. That’s the season. That’s what everything is about. We have so many players that are capable of making plays to help us win ball games, but we’ve got to believe, we got to stay focused and keep putting the work in and eventually the tide has to turn.
