GLENDALE — “I’m a leader everybody got to follow. That’s why I wear the black, red and gold like a Cardinal.”
Mack Wilson Sr. (aka Rocketship) closed out Day 2 of Arizona Cardinals training camp with a locker room bar. It didn’t take long for him to think it up.
He’s hoping for the same result when it comes to mastering Arizona’s MIKE linebacker role vacated by former running mate Kyzir White.
Unlike his background writing rhymes and dropping the Cardinals’ 2025 schedule release, rocking the green dot is something new for the seven-year NFL veteran.
But just like being put on the spot for Thursday’s locker room media availability mic drop, it’s nothing Wilson can’t handle.
“I love it, honestly.”
Cardinals LB Mack Wilson Sr. is rocking the green dot as Arizona’s MIKE backer for the first time in his career.
So far, so good (especially when messing with QB Kyler Murray) pic.twitter.com/TgjU7MMb8E
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) July 25, 2025
“I love it, honestly, because I’m the quarterback of the defense essentially,” Wilson said Thursday. “I kind of be messing around with (quarterback Kyler Murray) at practice. He be canning and checking and I just be moving around just messing with him and things like that. It’s been fun and I just been looking to get better with it each and every day.”
“It definitely takes repetition,” he added. “I’ll be having to go over my calls at night, the verbiage, so I can say the stuff clear and get it out to everybody, so I can line up and focus on what I got to do. But … it’s a part of the game. It’s a part of the process. I got people that’s depending on me, people holding me accountable. I love that pressure.”
Since arriving in Arizona as a free agent in 2024, Wilson has continued to see more piled on his plate than he had with Cleveland or New England. Just the way Wilson likes it.
Starting 16 games under defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, Wilson not only helped form a one-two punch alongside White, the veteran flexed his versatility as a pass rusher with three sacks and 19 total quarterback pressures. He was fourth among Cardinals pass rushers in both categories last year.
Now, he’ll lead the unit into the next phase of Arizona’s revamp.
Mack Wilson Sr. is doing an “excellent” job operating as the Cardinals MIKE linebacker, says head coach Jonathan Gannon. pic.twitter.com/XZGmo4tk8o
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) July 25, 2025
“Right now, he’s doing a really good job of it. He’s got really good command,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said Friday. “People that haven’t done it before, you got to evaluate that and make sure that it’s clean because there’s some defensive calls that I get mad at Nick for. I feel like they can get wordy and long at times. It’s like are we John Gruden playing offense right now, Nick?
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“(Wilson’s) responsible for a lot of communication and he’s got caddies out there, people helping them and ideally everybody communicates. But he’s responsible for a lot of that and he’s done a really good job. He really has. It was one of the things I was looking at in spring and it was very clean and good. … He’s just going to get better and better at it. So, I feel really comfortable with him.”
Wilson will still find his way to the quarterback in 2025. He’ll just have to get everyone lined up first.
That includes his running mate, whomever that may be.
With White gone and Wilson sliding into his role, there is a starting spot to be had in the middle of the defense.
There’s no shortage of competition in the ILB room, either, with Cody Simon, Akeem Davis-Gaither and Owen Pappoe the leading candidates. Each has gotten first-team reps early on in camp.
While starting would be nice, just claiming a roster spot would be a welcomed sight. If Arizona’s initial 53-man roster resembles anything like it did last year, there’s potentially two spots up for grabs after Wilson.
But for now, it’s all about Wilson and the rest of the inside linebackers room putting their best foot forward, including speaking up for the big men up front.
“(Calais Campbell) already got on me yesterday. He came up to me and told me that I got to echo the check out louder,” Wilson said. “I was like, ‘I got you bro. My fault. That’s my fault.’ There’s nothing I can say. I just owned up to it and just told him I’ll be better.”
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