Cardinals' Budda Baker: Being named Pro Bowl starter by coaches and players is "special"

No defensive back in the NFL has had more tackles since the start of the 2018 season than Cardinals safety Budda Baker. And his 565 total tackles and exactly 100 more than the next closest player, Bengals safety Jessie Bates (465).

It’s reasons like that and more, much more, why Baker was selected to his fifth Pro Bowl and fourth in a row this week and named a starter once again. He is the only Cardinals player selected this season.

“It’s definitely a special thing,” Baker said. “I always look forward to seeing the different players and talking to different players on different teams, just talking some football here and there. It’s definitely a cool experience and definitely blessed to be in the Pro Bowl.”

Baker was leading all NFC safeties in fan balloting before being passed in the latest voting poll, but the fact he was named a starter as voted upon by players and coaches made his latest selection that much better.

“That means a whole lot to me,” he said. “I’m not saying fans or people don’t know football, but I am saying players and coaches know football a little bit more than the average fans, so to get those type of votes from those guys is very special to me because I pride myself on playing really good football.

“I might not be making splash plays here and there but I’m going to do be doing my job every snap. … What I enjoy the most is win or lose, I gave it my all each and every game and after the game, opposing players and opposing coaches, DB coaches, head coaches, even special teams coaches, coming up to me and kind of praising me on how I play the game and how they see me on film.”

Baker, 26, has become the heart and soul of the Cardinals’ defense and it’s his relentless, aggressive play, hard-hitting and accomplished tackling, not to mention his speed and athletic ability to make a play from one side of the field to the other, that makes him so unique.

“I want people to watch the game and say, “No.3 man, that dude is 100 percent no matter what every single snap,’ ” Baker said. “That’s what I pride myself on and of course, I want to win games. This is a team sport and we’re going to continue to work as a team and get whole.”

It's that attitude and drive that made Baker so determined to play in a Week 10 game at the Rams despite dealing with a painful high ankle sprain. Such an injury would have kept most players sidelined for two to three weeks, minimum.

Not Baker.

“I feel like whether I’m 70 or 80 percent, I’m good enough to play,” he said. “At the time, we were kind of in playoff contention and I felt like there was a better chance of us winning as a team if I were to play, so of course, if I can play, I’m going to play. That’s just how I am, that’s how I grew up and that’s how I’m always going to be.”

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Kingsbury’s biggest regret

Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury has been much more of an open book this season, his fourth in the NFL, and it’s been there for all to see in recent days as he’s talked about his failed playing career in the league.

A sixth-round draft pick by the Patriots in 2003 as a quarterback out of Texas Tech, Kingsbury quickly became friends with Tom Brady and said he didn’t put enough emphasis and hard work into his job or he might have hung around longer than one season in New England and parts of three other years with the Saints, Broncos, Jets and Bills.

Preparing to face Brady and the Buccaneers all these years later on Christmas night at State Farm Stadium brought all those memories back.

“I think watching him work and how almost maniacal he was about it, that that’s what it takes at that position to be good,” Kingsbury said. “At times, I probably was trying to just run around with Tom Brady instead of trying to be Tom Brady going up there to Boston. I just think when you look back it’s such a short window, such a small opportunity looking back that I definitely could have put more into it.

“You’ve just got to live that regret.”

When he decided to get into coaching, Kingsbury decided he was going to give it his all so he never had to look back like he did about his playing days and say he could have given more. It’s what shaped him as a coach from the college level to the NFL.

“That’s a huge part of it,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have any regrets as to how much I put into it, how fast I could try to climb the ranks and become the type of coach I thought I could be. That definitely was kind of a second opportunity to try and take advantage of a really good opportunity I had getting into the college ranks right out of my playing career really.”

So far, Kingsbury said he has no regrets about how he has done things as a coach.

“No. I think you learn every year as a coach and you just try to get better,” he said. “But I really don’t … There’s certain players I’ve dealt with throughout that and there’s experiences I wish I had back with players, but as far as just how I’ve approached it, no I don’t. I just tried to attack it and any opportunity I had. I just tried to make the most of it.”

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Final injury report

The Cardinals have ruled out quarterback Colt McCoy (concussion), defensive end Zach Allen (hand) and cornerback Byron Murphy Jr (back). Kingsbury said Friday that right tackle Kelvin Beachum (knee/ankle) is hopeful of playing Sunday, but he will be questionable along with cornerback Antonio Hamilton (back).

Beachum said he’ll have a better idea of his availability after Saturday’s walk-through practice. If he doesn’t play, Kingsbury said Josh Jones will stay at left tackle and that either Cody Ford or Rashaad Coward would start at right tackle.

Kingsbury said wide receiver Marquise Brown, who popped up on the injury report Thursday with a groin issue, is questionable for Sunday’s game but added that he looked good in practice on Friday, “So I’m hoping he can play the whole game and we’ll have him and Hop (DeAndre Hopkins) out there.”

Also listed as questionable are guard Max Garcia (shoulder) and safety Charles Washington (chest).

The Buccaneers will be without starting left tackle Donovan Smith (foot), defensive tackle Vita Vea (calf), cornerback Jamel Dean (toe) and linebackers Carl Nassib (pectoral) and Genard Avery (abdomen/oblique).

Listed as questionable were wide receiver Julio Jones (knee), tackles Tristan Wirfs (ankle) and Josh Wells (back) and safeties Keanu Neal (toe), Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle) and Mike Edwards (hamstring), who was added to the injury report on Friday.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals notebook: Budda Baker reacts to latest Pro Bowl selection