Whisenhunt says 0-4 preseason has not eroded his belief in Cardinals

Cardinals coach downplays winless preseason

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt knows there is concern among Cardinals fans after the reigning NFC champions went 0-4 in the preseason.

He wants them to understand that the team played only basic packages and gave away none of the many wrinkles the Cardinals will have on display once the season begins for real.

“I promise you that if we wanted to go 3-1 or 4-0 in the preseason we could have done so,” Whisenhunt said on Friday.

The Cardinals, with one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL a year ago, scored just one touchdown with their first team in the preseason. To outsiders, it could look as if Arizona’s run to the Super Bowl was a one-year wonder.

The team that wrapped up its preseason with a 19-0 loss at Denver on Thursday night looked a lot more like the one that was flat in late-season losses at home to Minnesota and at New England a year ago than the one that rolled past Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia in the playoffs.

“I feel good about our football team,” Whisenhunt insisted, “and I feel good about a lot of the things that we got done in training camp that people didn’t necessarily see in the games.”

Kurt Warner came up with several plays he wanted to run against the Broncos, but Whisenhunt said he had to remind the quarterback that it was preseason and the offense would stay with the basics.

“It’s very difficult to stay basic in the preseason, especially when there’s a lot of attention to wins and losses,” Whisenhunt said. “… Ultimately, if we do what we’re supposed to do and play well in the first (regular season) game, nobody will remember the preseason.”

The coach said he gave nothing away that opponents can use to prepare for the Cardinals, who open their season at home Sept. 13 against San Francisco.

“All I can think about right now is what’s San Francisco going to work on,” Whisenhunt said. “They can go back to last year and look at the stuff we did, but who’s to say we’re doing the same kind of things.”

The Cardinals were without Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin the last two games because of a sore hamstring. Wide receiver Steve Breaston was obviously off his form when he returned Thursday night after missing two games with a bruised kneecap.

The players seemed a bit more concerned about the team’s preseason flops than the coach was.

Warner, who was 2 for 7 for 48 yards with an interception against Denver, lamented a continued lack of attention to details, just as he did after Green Bay took a 38-10 halftime lead over the Cardinals the previous week.

“I never really got into a rhythm,” Warner said after the Broncos game. “I don’t know if guys were pressing, trying to do something because of last week, but I don’t leave really excited about what we’ve done in the preseason.”

The Cardinals are off Saturday and Sunday, then return to practice on Monday. Whisenhunt said he would put the team through its usual regular-season schedule after that, with Tuesday off and practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

“I think now once the preseason’s over, when we get all of our quote ‘horses’ back, and we game plan and we have specific things that we’re working on in practice, as well as specific looks that we’re studying from an opponent,” he said, ” … I believe that we’ll be a different team, in a good way.”