Calais Campbell playing like a Pro Bowler

Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell said he’s nowhere close to 100 percent healthy, even after two games back from a calf injury that sidelined him for three weeks.

“In the NFL this time of year, I don’t think anybody feels 100 percent,” Campbell said. “It’s impossible, because it’s a long, physical season. No matter how many games you go through, you start getting nicks and bruises and things that just hurt and you have to suck up.”

You wouldn’t know looking at him play, though.

Even with a three-game hiatus, the 6-foot-8 defensive end is near the top of many of Arizona’s defensive categories. His 53 tackles are fourth on the team, and his 4.5 sacks are second — and tops on the defensive line.

And after three tackles for loss in last week’s win over Detroit, Campbell now leads the squad with eight stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Campbell finished with eight tackles against the Lions, the same amount he had a week earlier in the embarrassing 58-0 loss in Seattle. But against Detroit, Campbell had more explosion.

“When I got back in that Seattle game, I didn’t have that push-off like I wanted to have,” he said. “But last week, it came back and I felt like it allowed me to do some things that I wish I could have done all season.”

Had he been healthy all season, Campbell would have stood a very good chance of being named to the NFC Pro Bowl squad for the first time in his five years in the league. And with the rate at which players drop out of the Pro Bowl, Campbell may make it there anyway.

“Those things factor into a couple things: your win-loss record, your publicity or your notoriety around the league, and then how well you play,” defensive coordinator Ray Horton said. “You keep your fingers crossed. Statistically, you’d hope that Daryl (Washington) and Patrick (Peterson) would be a shoo-in, and then Calais on the body-of-work deal.”

Pro Bowl squads are announced on Wednesday.


(azcentral.com)