Arizona Cardinals' Josh Woods out to prove he's more than a special teams ace
EAGAN, Minn. — Josh Woods has logged close to 1,100 snaps in four seasons in the NFL. According to his Pro Football Reference page, 928 of them have been on special teams.
Which explains why Woods signed with the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason. He wants to play linebacker, his position, and he wants to be a bigger part of an NFL defense.
Woods sure looked like an NFL inside linebacker last Saturday in the team's preseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, in which he led the Cardinals with six tackles and added a forced fumble. He started the past two preseason games and looks on track to play a role on defense this season.
"I had an opportunity to play, honestly. I felt like I was boxed in being a special teams guy in Detroit. And you know, I was ready to break out of that box," Woods said. "I knew that I could play 'backer and had a taste of it beforehand. So they (the Cardinals) told me that we're signing you for special teams, but you know, you have an opportunity to break through as a defender."
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On the first play of the game, Woods stuffed Kansas City's No. 1 running back, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, for no gain. He forced a fumble downfield after a big gain for the Chiefs, but the Cardinals couldn't recover the loose ball. Woods got credit for two tackles on the play.
With open competition throughout the roster at many positions as the Cardinals re-shape their roster, style and culture, Woods figured that at least he'd have a chance to do more than just special teams. On Saturday, he returns to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for the Cardinals' preseason finale, the stadium where Woods made his NFL debut in 2019 with the Chicago Bears.
Two seasons ago, Woods got a couple of games of playing a lot of linebacker for the Lions, one of his two former teams. He had 10 tackles in a game at Denver, including two tackles for loss. But the following season, after 113 plays on defense in 2021, Woods got just 10 in 2022.
Still, Woods was a special teams captain for the Lions.
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"He’s really kind of an emotional leader for us," Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp told the Detroit News and other media outlets last December. “Like there was a moment in that game where I was about to jump in the huddle and start talking to the players or whatever, but I heard him talking to the guys, and he was saying all the things I was about to say. And that’s really how you want it as a coach, or that’s how I would prefer it, is you really want the leadership to come from within, and those guys to feel like it’s really theirs."
Woods said he's accomplished what he's hoped for in his brief time with the Cardinals, but only up to this point in the preseason.
"But the work is not done. It's never done. The moment you think you're good, that's when they got you. So I understand that with more snaps comes greater responsibility," Woods said. "Guys are counting on me. So it's just another step on the road to greatness. But I gotta keep my head down and keep working."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals' Josh Woods is more than a special teams contributor
