Cardinals' Jonathan Gannon Says NFL Rules Make it 'Hard to Get Better as a Tackler'

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon believes that NFL rules surrounding padded practices make it difficult to teams to improve their tackling skills.

"How the rules are set up, it's hard to get better as a tackler being in the NFL, I'll say that," Gannon said Wednesday, per ESPN's Josh Weinfuss.

As part of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement in 2020, teams are allowed 14 padded practices and 11 of them must occur within the first 11 weeks of the season (h/t Weinfuss).

Under the previous CBA, teams were permitted to conduct as many as 28 padded practices.

"It's set up how it's set up, that's fine," Gannon said, via Weinfuss. "But to get better at a skill, you have to practice the skill. You practice skill, you can scale it, you can scale the tempo, you can scale how you do it, but to practice a skill, you need to practice the skill.

"And so it's a conundrum I think all defensive guys face and there's risk-reward to trying to practice it with it however you set things up. But you definitely have to be a good tackling defense to play good defense."

Arizona's defense has struggled this year, allowing 27.7 points per game. The Cardinals have also amassed 85 missed tackles in 14 games, ranking No. 22 in the NFL (via Pro Football Reference).

Gannon's squad sits at the bottom of the NFC West standings with a 3-11 record.