After the Week 1 loss to Buffalo, the Cardinals proved Gannon’s belief in a blowout over the Rams. That’s the response the leaders in the facility are looking for as Washington comes to town.
How it comes about can be different for each player. After Buffalo, defensive lineman Roy Lopez said earlier in his career a one-score loss would’ve stung, but now he’s able to flush it sooner. In his seventh season with the Cardinals, Gardeck doesn’t want to completely let the feeling dissipate.
“For me it’s letting the things that I need to get better at burn for a little bit,” Gardeck said. “I think if you put it to bed too soon, the motivation to get it corrected in a timely and urgent matter isn’t there as much, so I want to let it burn. I want to feel like I let the guys done on the plays that I need to get corrected, and then by the time I’m watching film (Monday), I’m watching Washington film, not what I did against Detroit.”
The toughness and physicality on the field throughout the Lions game was apparent — even local Fox 10 videographer Brad Gass got banged up during the game — but the mental toughness as the Cardinals prepare for the Commanders can guide them to a similar bounceback outcome they experienced in the home opener.
“We’ve got mature and serious people, so you’ve got to be able to take it on the chin after a loss but learn from it and also see the good from it,” Gannon said. “It’s tough to do after a loss in a tight ball game versus a good team, a couple plays here and there and maybe the results a little bit different. You can’t do anything about (Sunday), but what you can do is how you respond today and what we do moving forward.
“We’re going to respond the right way because of the maturity and the seriousness of the locker room.”
