Football is not played in shorts.

Today the pads are put on, and playtime is over. I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of hitting or hard tackling, but I do expect that the competition will heat up. It’s an exciting time for Bruce Arians and the guys, as practice will become much more physical. Arians is not one to beat around the bush. He flat out stated that it’s time to look for football players.

“Football is not played in shorts, and it’s not fair to the big guys. So many guys look bad in shorts, and then they put the pads on, and they’re football players. That was kind of my message when we broke; I am looking for the football players that show up now, not the soccer players. There are a lot of guys who are great in shorts, and then the noise level goes up, and they kind of disappear. We are going to look for football players now.”

With pads on Arians can begin assessing his lineman better. He will be keeping a close eye on the younger guys, as he begins searching for diamonds in the rough.