Bruce Arians, Larry Foote call Julius Thomas chop block premeditated

A day passed since the illegal block that sent defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the sideline and out of commission for one to three weeks. Head coach Bruce Arians had strong words on Sunday. Time didn't soften his stance, as he had more to say about the play when he addressed the media on Monday.

Arians said he "didn't need" a statement from the league to confirm that the block was illegal.

"What's happening," he asked. "They put out a statement; our guy is out one to three weeks."

Arians believes Julius Thomas should not be able to play until Campbell is back, but acknowledged it doesn't work that way.

But he did have this to say, "You'll never convince me it wasn't premeditated."

"The lower chop block's the worst (type of illegal block)," he said. "A guy sets you up and grabs your attention, then somebody else hits you in the knees. There's no call for that in this game.

Arians wasn't the only one with strong words on Monday. Linebacker Larry Foote also answered questions about the play and he was equally upset.

"Everybody -- current players, ex-players -- they should be disgusted with that play," he said. "That's a black eye to football."

"Even their own players knew it."

When asked if he thought the play was deliberate, he was unequivocal. "Oh yeah, oh yeah," he said. "You don't go down and see a guy's knee and then go out on a pass route. That was definitely premeditated."

He said he is going to "wait on the league" to see what happens. "It should be more than a fine in my opinion," he indicated.

"All players, even their own teammates, should look at him funny for that," he said.

Foote used the words "stupid," "disgusting" and "sick."

He even subtly suggested that the league look into the Broncos for possibly instructed dirty play.

"I don't want to get into that game, but why would a guy just take it on his own to say, 'I'm just going to go take him out,' because it's deliberate," Foote said.

Then, while not wanting "to get into that game," he does.

"There's no room for that play in this league," he said. "That Wes Welker play last playoffs, I mean somebody needs to chack and do a little investigation on their sideline. Maybe it's someone on their sideline calling that."

Foote was referring to a play Welker had against now teammate Aqib Talib on a pick play. Bill Belichick went off on that play, calling it one of the worst plays he had ever seen.

There are a lot of people saying that all this is sour grapes. But the message seems clear from the Cardinals -- they are certain it was deliberate and want more than a sub-$10,000 fine for Julius Thomas. We will be watching  the NFL, too, for news of discipline later this week.