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Cardinals rookies have gotten used to Bruce Arians' colorful language

Bruce Arians' approach isn't new to any of the rookies, but it has taken a few of them by surprise at times. Still, they know "it's just tough love." Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The first time Arizona Cardinals rookie linebacker Haason Reddick heard the colorful rainbow of words come out of coach Bruce Arians' mouth, he was shocked.

It didn't matter that they weren't directed at Reddick, the Cardinals' first-round pick this year, he wasn't expecting them.

"You look at him, you're like, 'That's a guy that rarely gets brought out of character or his element,'" Reddick said. "Then one day I heard him go off in practice. I forgot what he said but I remember replying, 'Oh, damn ... oh, damn.'"

A coach then looked at Reddick and said, "Yeah, that's B.A. for you."

Arians likes to say he thinks his rookies should be ready to contribute on the field by this time of year. More than seven months since they first began playing for Arians, this year's rookie class has become accustomed to hearing Arians drop all sorts of the F-, S-, A- and M- (and F) bombs.

Arians' approach isn't new to any of the rookies. They've all had coaches, at some point in their careers, who weave curse words into their language as often as a noun or verb.

Wide receiver Chad Williams, Arizona's third-round pick out of Grambling State, said his high school basketball coach was "brutal." But Williams said it helped him develop a thick skin and made him tougher. So, when he heard Arians let loose, Williams liked it.

"It's just tough love," Williams said. "But when he's screaming at you like that, you should be happy because that means he wants you to do better. He cares about you."

However, the reaction to Arians' outbursts differ depending on whether they're directed at you or to someone else.

When second-round pick safety Budda Baker first heard Arians go off on a player, his reaction was "Oh, OK, alright. I don't want to mess up then."

Arians got his chance to lace into Baker, however, when Baker got too close to quarterback Carson Palmer during one practice earlier this year. Baker believes any coach would've lashed out if a player -- especially a rookie -- got too close to the starting quarterback. But, Baker said he "took it."

When Williams thought back to the worst thing Arians said to him this year, he just laughed.

"One day he was like, 'Get your butt back in the huddle. If I send you back to Field 2, you're going to be out of here on the first plane smoking,'" Williams said. "I jumped back in that huddle and went faster the next play, I know that."

Williams tried to keep his retelling PG rated. Arians didn't use "butt."

Left tackle Will Holden, Arizona's fourth-round pick out of Vanderbilt, said offensive line coaches are notorious for having an, well, uncouth vocabulary. He was used to hearing coaches drop curse words, but when he heard it from Arians toward the beginning of the season, it was his "Welcome to the NFL" moment -- especially since the whole team was looking.

"You kind of understand that you're going to get the brunt of it because you are a rookie but whenever he's yelling directly at you, you kind of stop and you're like, 'Alright, this is real. This is the NFL. Welcome to the NFL.' That's kind of what I thought first."

However, the rookies have learned not to take it personally.

"You can't take personally in this business," Holden said. "If you take it personally, you'll just crumble. You just got to take it in full stride and keep going because there's always that next play, and until that next play ends you just got to keep pushing forward."