Fight for your right — to play
Aug 13, 2013, 2:45 PM | Updated: Apr 28, 2015, 2:00 pm
Monday’s practice was similar to most for the Arizona Cardinals. Patrick Peterson had a head-turning interception. Tyrann Mathieu knocked down a couple passes. Jonathan Cooper continues to impress. Ryan Williams continues to sit (although he told me he feels much better.)
One thing stood out among all others: the message was heard loud and clear. Your job is in jeopardy.
Daryn Colledge has done very little this camp due to injury. All through camp, he had to listen to the coaching staff talk about Paul Fanaika. In the game against Green Bay, Fanaika made enough plays to show he’s ready to take the spot from Colledge. Monday morning on our show, GM Steve Keim told Cardinals fans how well Fanaika played and gave some reasons why he thought Fanaika is playing good football. Today was the day Colledge had heard enough.
Colledge did not practice Monday like a man who won a ring and a big contract. Colledge practiced like a man who knew his starting job hung in the balance. Colledge ran with the first team on Monday. In some cases, he ran over what was in front of him.
Levi Brown was similar. Patrick Peterson was on offense. He took a fake handoff on an end-around. Palmer then faked a screen to the side vacated by Peterson’s motion. Wheeling around, Palmer hit Peterson on a throw-back screen with Brown leading. Instead of meandering along the sidewalk, since his job required him to run along the numbers, Brown targeted anyone on the sidewalk to punish.
Two players who have felt very comfortable with their job security the last couple years, had one practice where they were making others feel uncomfortable.
