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Cardinals' Tyrann Mathieu speaks on overcoming knee, thumb injuries

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu battled through knee and thumb injuries to become a contributing member of the team's secondary in 2014.

Mathieu recorded 37 tackles and an interception in 13 games for the Cardinals, but suffered a fractured left thumb in a defeat to the Atlanta Falcons.

The former LSU star spoke about the difficulties of fending off ailments while trying to make a deep playoff run.

"You try to stay as optimistic as possible, but there is a reality to it, too," Mathieu said to Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic. "It's kind of hard to keep telling yourself it's going to be all right, especially when we got into the thick of everything last year, thinking that if I was 100 percent, I'd probably be able to help my team a whole lot more than I'm doing right now."

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians appeared to be impressed by the "Honey Badger."

"He has a gleam in his eye that I didn't see at all last year," Arians said.

Arizona was eliminated by the Carolina Panthers in a 27-16 loss during the Wild Card round.

"You play scared because you don't want to give up a touchdown or you play too aggressive because you don't want to be singled out as if you're not giving the effort. It's kind of like the worst of both worlds," Mathieu said.

"I've never thought about it as hard as I did last year. I was always thinking about something, rather than just going out there to play."

Mathieu feels that he owes his teammate a standout performance in 2015, with the Cardinals seeking to supplant the Seattle Seahawks as NFC West champions.

"It's a fact I really didn't do anything last year," Mathieu said. "I have so much to prove, especially to my team, because I know I can perform better than last year."

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