By 
Kevin Kolb is no stranger to depth chart drama at the quarterback position. The five-year veteran experienced it with Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick in Philadelphia, and he dealt with it again when John Skelton arguably outperformed him during his first year with the Arizona Cardinals But the real drama came earlier this offseason, when Kolb nearly lost his job as a result of the Peyton Manning sweepstakes. Ultimately, the Cards lost out on Manning, but Kolb wasn’t thrilled with how things went down.Kevin Kolb joined XTRA Sports 910 in Phoenix to discuss how he dealt with his team courting Peyton Manning. He also touched on his recovery from a late-season concussion and the return to action with offseason workouts.
On getting back into the swing of things with the team with the start of the offseason conditioning program after having to deal with the Peyton Manning circus earlier in the offseason:
“Obviously with some of the stuff that’s gone on at my position, it’s good to put it behind us and move forward and focus on winning games. That’s the most important thing.”
On how long he felt concussion symptoms after the season ended:
“It lingered for about three weeks — if I remember correctly — once I went back home. And that was a little longer than I expected. But a-okay now, everything’s checked out. I feel back to normal.”
On having a full offseason to work with this time around:
“Oh, it’s huge. I mean, everybody was dealt a different role last year. And that’s something you just gotta adjust and go on with. But it is nice. It’s nice not only for the reasons that are apparent as far as OTAs and practices and going through the playbook and running through cut-ups. This time of year is for fine detail. It’s for mechanics. It’s for going back through and looking at your plays and seeing what you could have done better on every situation, and then kind of back off during the season. But I think one thing that most people don’t realize is, this is where you build chemistry as a team. You build character throughout the year, whenever you’re going through hard times, but right now’s when you build chemistry.”
On how he found about and followed the team’s pursuit of Peyton Manning:
“I found out like everybody else found out — on the ticker and all the ESPN coverage or whatever else, and through family and friends because I was trying not to watch most of it. But my thoughts are that this is a business, and if you don’t realize that as a player and a coach and management, then you’re in for a long ride. And so I don’t get my feelings hurt. I do wish there were a few things that were handled a little bit different as far as communication, but I’ve already spoken with the (inaudible) people to make sure that we build on that and get better and they recognize it as well. So, you know, it’s in the past, and I’m glad we’re moving forward with the things that are in place now and I’m obviously happy to be here and be a part of this team because I definitely didn’t want to be anywhere else.”
On if he wanted to be made aware of the pursuit of Manning ahead of time:
“Yeah, maybe just that the possibility was there. It’s their job to try to better every position every year, and that starts from head to toe. So you have to get over that aspect of it. You compete for your job every single day, every single game, every single year — especially at my position. And so, last year was an unfortunate year for myself as far as injuries and the way we started, and we got some momentum there late, and we’re trying to build on that and move forward.”
On if the Manning pursuit has further motivated him to succeed:
“There’s plenty of stuff out there to motivate a player in this league, and I haven’t thought about it enough to really have some motivation. I have plenty of things to prove to myself and this organization, the team, the fans, rather than just think about the Peyton Manning situation. That’s in the past and that’s where it needs to be.”
On the competition he’ll face with John Skelton:
“I mean, that’s the way it always is. That’s the way this business is — you better be a competitive person. And so, I am that, and I was told the same thing last year. As soon as the trade was over, I was told that same thing two days after that. So that’s nothing new for me, and nothing new for John as well. Him and I have an awesome relationship together and we’ll root for one another just like we did last year, whoever’s out there. But I look forward to competing and earning my spot.”
Comments