Despite sore hip, Warner ready to play

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Despite sore hip, Warner ready to play
by Kevin McGuire/Sports 620 KTAR
(August 5th, 2009 @ 3:03pm)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.- After a run to the Super Bowl and an appearance at the Pro Bowl, Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner was thought to have laced up the cleats for the last time.

Warner was apparently going to contemplate retirement, but he couldn't get the game he loves out of his head.

"About two days after the Pro Bowl was over, I was already thinking about football again," said Warner. "I just knew at that point it's just not time yet. If I can't get away after last season and how long it was and how wearing it was, if I couldn't get away from football for more than two days, then it probably wasn't the right time. That's when I made my decision."

The Cardinals are happy to have him back and even structured their offense around him, something the Cardinals haven't really ever done. Warner is excited about the upcoming season, especially now that his offense is relatively unchanged from last year.

"When I was here the first couple of years, it seemed like every week we had a different lineup," said Warner. "You just can't build any continuity that way. It's hard to work with guys when you don't know exactly how they are going to react. We've been fortunate in that regard that we've had the same group working together and coach has been able to use that to our advantage."

Warner has been slightly hindered in camp so far by a sore hip. He had surgery done over this offseason and expects to experience the pain for several months.

Warner says that he is at about 85 percent now and moving in the right direction. Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt said he hadn't noticed any problems as of yet. With a pre-season game upcoming against the Steelers, the question is how much playing time Warner will see.

"The importance is going to be not so much the number of plays, but what kind of plays and what they ask me to do," said Warner.

It is going to take more than a sore hip to keep Warner, who has started 31 consecutive games despite various injuries, out of the lineup. Sore hip and all, Warner just hopes he and his teammates are up for the tough task the lies ahead of them.

"Just getting to the playoffs or having a winning season isn't enough anymore, which is going to be kind of fun," said Warner. "Hopefully we put that pressure on ourselves to say anything but a Super Bowl is, to a degree, a failure."

Warner had hip surgery back in the middle of March. It's now been almost five months and, according to his own assessment, he's still not 100% healthy. Is that something the Cardinals should be worried about?