Do not anger Bruce Arians.
The Arizona Cardinals coach decided to test his team with an earlier practice on Monday -- 8 a.m., to be precise. When the players didn't respond in the manner the coach expected, well, this is when being a professional footballer is not fun.
Arians, peeved by the sluggish practice in the heat, penalized his players with a series of punishing wind sprints. If these dispatches gives you flashbacks to godless summer football practices of your own youth, you are not alone.
Arians was unapologetic after the conclusion of a practice that left offensive linemen, according to the Cardinals team site, [sitting] at their lockers with a thousand-yard stare."
"Play like [expletive], I'll treat you like [expletive]," Arians told reporters later. "They weren't ready to practice. They were really ready to practice on Saturday. With fans and all that, they were ready to roll. They had a great practice Saturday. Today, awful."
Everyone has war stories about steamy summer practices and conditioning drills gone wild. Tyrann Mathieu recalled a practice at LSU in which he had to complete 30 consecutive runs of 110 yards.
"I've died before," he said. "I don't think I can die again."
In other news, Mathieu may be immortal. Feel like we've buried the lede here.
