All-Access with Bruce Arians: Carson Palmer still hoping for 2017 return

TEMPE, Ariz. – Head coach Bruce Arians, now in his fifth year with the Arizona Cardinals, meets the media several times leading up to gameday.

Here, in this space, with help from the Cardinals’ media relations staff, we’ll highlight many of the key topics and personnel conversations he has with reporters following practice.

Opening statement:

“No update yet on Carson’s (Palmer) situation. He’s getting another opinion too, so we’ll wait and see how that goes. Players were not in today, so there’s nothing to report injury-wise. We don’t feel like there was anything other than Carson that happened in the ballgame. Looking at the tape, it’s a six-nothing game when that injury occurs. It should have been six-to-three, but it was a six-nothing game, and we were protecting him pretty well. We were not running the ball very well at that time, but then it kind of unfolded real quickly.

“We missed a tackle, they get the touchdown and we threw another interception. I know Drew (Stanton) will bounce back and play a whole lot better when he gets all the practice time. It’s nice to have an extra day’s work. He got literally no reps last week in our offense, so we’ll get that straightened out. Nobody’s going to throw a pity party for us as far as who’s playing and who’s not. We don’t have David Johnson. We don’t have Carson, and we still have to find a game plan that wins, and my job is to get our players ready to win.”

On what the options are for QB Carson Palmer besides him getting a second opinion on his injury:

“I think it’s just a matter of how soon he can come back and still be protected with it.”

On if Palmer will need surgery no matter what:

“As far as I know. Nothing’s changed, as far as I know.”

On if further tests will impact the team in deciding whether to place Palmer on injured reserve:

“Yeah, if we do, we’ll definitely save a spot for him to come back.”

On whether Palmer thinks he can come back in five weeks:

“Yeah, he was saying, ‘Four to six,’ and I said, ‘That’d be great.’”

On if it’s optimistic or doable for Palmer to return in less time than originally thought:

“It depends on what the surgeon says. He is a fast healer. He’s had it broken before and basically said he was back in five.”

On any updates with RB T.J. Logan and whether he’s eligible to return after the bye week:

“Yeah, with these injuries, we’ve got tough decisions whether or not we bring him back if David Johnson is near coming back and Carson’s near coming back. So, those will be tough decisions.”

On how all the injuries have impacted him emotionally:

“Yeah, it sucks because you have a really good football team that you’re excited about. We went through a really tough camp, injury-free. We have four broken arms, four left arms, and it’s kind of crazy. But it is what it is. Nobody’s throwing a pity party for Green Bay. Nobody’s going to throw one for us. We have four practices to get ready to beat the Niners, and that’s all that matters right now. And we did it with Drew last year.”

On if he noticed a lack of urgency and intensity with the team during its game yesterday:

“Well, I didn’t see it on the first drive. We went right down the field, and we held them to three. So yeah, I think our team right now doesn’t overcome bad things very well. If there’s one thing I can say about our team is – and I hate to say we’re kind of front runners – when things are going good, they’re going really good. Right now, we have to be able to adjust on that sideline emotionally when something doesn’t go our way. A lot of that is the youth in the football team.”

On if the Rams were doing something in particular to prevent the Cardinals from running the ball effectively:

“It was hit or miss. It was Adrian (Peterson) a little bit. It was a guy here, a guy there, that type of thing. That’s a good front, but it’s a different front for Adrian running our offense. But, he did hit a couple, and once the score got a little bit out of hand, that part was basically gone.”

On if the team is looking at bringing in a third quarterback and whether the team would consider signing QB Colin Kaepernick:

“We’ve never had more than two on our roster since I’ve been here. We liked Blaine Gabbert so much that we kept him this year. So, we’re really where we always are. We may look for a practice squad arm.”

On what he thought about TE Jermaine Gresham’s penalty yesterday:

“The one, the holding penalty, the guy fell down. I could see it being called. The guy actually slammed his hands to the face of Larry (Fitzgerald), and it should’ve been called first. It should’ve been offsetting penalties at worst. He did slightly move on the second one.”

On what he’s seen from QB Blaine Gabbert in preseason and training camp that he’s liked:

“I saw a really good athlete and has a tremendous arm. It’s just a matter of continuing to learn this system. But his physical attributes made us go, ‘Hey, this guy has a chance. We’re going to go with three quarterbacks this year and continue to try to get him taught.’ Now, he’s got to be more than ready to go.”

On if this will change Gabbert’s practice reps at all:

“He’ll probably get some, since we have an extra day this week. We’ll give him a couple, but the starter gets all of them. He’ll get more of the other team’s reps.”

On if he knows the name of the specialist who Palmer will see:

“I have no idea on that one. I’m sorry.

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