Cardinals QB Drew Stanton: Talks Week 9 and Thursday night

The Arizona Cardinals are coming off their first win with Drew Stanton under center since starter Carson Palmer went down with a broken arm in Week 7.

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.

On how he can get his body prepared to play on a short turnaround:

“Luckily, we’ve got a really good sports science program here with (Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach) Anthony Piroli and (Strength and Conditioning Coach) Buddy Morris. Our training staff has everything mapped out for what we need to do. We’ve got everything at our disposal, which is a luxury to have, that ownership takes that much pride in trying to help the players recover. And, I think it’s very intentional with the way this week’s prepared with B.A. (Bruce Arians) and how he’s trying to structure it – get in, get our work, mentally get ourselves prepared to play, but physically also. That’s the biggest thing with these Thursday night games and seeing that quick turnaround. Just trying to get as healthy as you possibly can until Thursday night comes.”

On being more athletic once upon a time and whether he can imagine being RB Adrian Peterson, carrying the ball 37 times at 32-years old:

“That wasn’t a joke. Yeah, I dreamt about being him. I would love to be that. But yeah, he’s a workhorse for a reason. Throughout the course of his career, you’ve probably heard every cliché under the sun about him. He just gets stronger as the game goes on. I remember being in awe and talking about it the first week he got here. He hadn’t played much, on and off in New Orleans. He came in after the Tampa Bay game Monday morning, and he had a box like this tall and jumped on it. Like, he was doing box jumps up there, and me and Carson were like, ‘Who’s doing this?’ And Buddy is like, ‘Adrian did that, and then went out there and ran 16 110s and beat everybody,’ and it’s just like, ‘OK.’ It just speaks volumes about the type of professional that he is. For guys that are able to sustain success over a long period of time in this career, it doesn’t happen just out of dumb luck. He takes care of his body. He’s meticulous with everything that he does, and he’s also been blessed with really good fortune and good genes.”

On how he felt with his timing with his receivers:

“I felt good. I think that you get a chance to watch it, and you can’t hesitate at all. You have to make split-second decisions, and obviously, the interception, I overthought it. I was thinking about trying to take J.B. on the outside and had a good matchup out there, but didn’t, and tried to take the safety in. There’s so many nuances that go in to every single play, and that’s what the course of the week and the preparation takes. I played that first play in my head about 20 different ways. So, you try and mentally get prepared and envision everything that’s going to go on, and then go out there and just play. That’s the one thing that I’ve tried to do is put all the time and effort in throughout the course of the week and the preparation and the communication. All of the little small details, because as it’s talked about time and time again, there are three or four plays – you either make that play or you don’t, and that’s going to decide the game. But, you just don’t know when they’re going to show up.”

On how important it is for him to buy time by using his legs:

“Yeah, I think being able to extend plays, the biggest thing that I’m trying to do when I’m out there is create stuff, and if it’s there, great. If not, get rid of it. I had a handful of throwaways and trying to do stuff. We’ve got some guys that can create space and get open, and sometimes things breakdown. Everybody on our offense knows that things don’t go according to plan when I’m out there. So, being able to adapt to that is some of the things we can use to our advantage.”

On the Seahawks defense:

“Man, they’re still as good as ever. They’re talented. I don’t know how they continue to pay all these guys and have them come back each and every year. They’ve got a good formula and a good (salary) cap guy, apparently. They’re as consistent as ever. They’re still doing stuff. I think you look at what they’ve been able to accomplish, even with losing some guys like Cliff Avril, which is unfortunate – you never want to see a guy have to go through something like that – but they’re still getting after the quarterback. They’re extremely athletic, and that backend is what makes everything go. It’s so different than everybody else and having linebackers that are so versatile, really present a lot of issues for everybody.”

On his relationship with WR Larry Fitzgerald and how he’s targeted Fitzgerald more than any other receiver:

“Wouldn’t you throw it to Larry? Yeah, I think the thing about him is that his catch radius is so big. When he’s open, or not even necessarily open, the way that he competes and his confidence when he goes out there, we feed off of that. I’m not dumb. I know that we get in this stadium Thursday night, and I throw him a pass and he gets up and goes nuts, that crowd is going to respond. That’s a huge asset for us. The offense goes through him. We feed off of that. Not to mention, he has to do a lot of dirty work that not a lot receivers would do. He’s got to go in there and dig people out and he’s got a tough responsibility again this week. He doesn’t get enough credit for the little things that he does, but at the same time, we try to pick and choose where we can utilize him and the other assets that we have.”

On whether the play where he ran for the first down was a read-option:

“Yes, it was.”

On his thoughts when that play was called:

“I knew there was a potential of it coming up. You’re seeing that a little bit more in the league, because people are getting to it. It’s not just athletic quarterbacks now; there are guys like me trying to do it and read ends and get down. Especially the element of surprise is probably the greatest thing. If they weren’t anticipating that, and that’s one extra guy they’re not accounting for. We had Troy (Niklas) come around to seal the block, just in case and pick up the extra defender. So, it’s not something that we’re going to feature each and every week, but within that scheme of what we were trying to accomplish, and at that point in the game, it was a great call.”

On if that’s a play that he lobbied with Coach Arians:

“I don’t lobby with B.A. I know better than that.”

On Arians allowing players to have input:

“No. He picks the play. He puts the scheme in, and then we pick which ones we like. We don’t get to pick what we want. Believe me. I’ve already tried that before, many times, and he goes, ‘No, we can’t do that.’ But, of the plays he has in, we can say if we like it. There’s a big difference.”

On if he liked that play:

“No, I didn’t. But it works, so I did.”

On if QB Carson Palmer has provided him with any specific advice the last week or two:

“I think that he’s just been encouraging, just reaffirming stuff, especially somebody in my position, that’s a career backup stepping into a role like this. There’s lots of moving pieces. So, I’ve got a good recipe, like I said, of how I want to operate, but just having him, that extra vote of confidence, to be in there, staying on track and doing all those things, an extra set of eyes that’s seen a countless number of snaps and been on many sidelines. Normally, he’s in the game – he’s never on the sidelines – but, being able to sense that and feel that, I think that’s something that’s invaluable for a person like myself.”

On if he brings his laidback demeanor to the huddle:

“Yeah. Some people can misconstrue that laidback sense of humor as a smartass, and I’ve definitely gotten that a lot throughout the course of my career. I feel like I’ve even matured a little bit over the years, so it was probably even worse initially. I feel like that’s one thing I’ve always tried to do throughout my entire career. We make it hard enough on ourselves. We take everything so serious, and it should be serious. It’s very important, but at the same time, we need to go out and have fun and you only do that by being able to relax and play at your potential. Sometimes, I just go out there and do what I need to do and try to be infectious with that in some way, shape or form.”

On if his smart-ass comments have matured over his career:

“(Senior Vice President of Media Relations) Mark (Dalton) could attest to it. They’ve gotten better. They’ve gotten better, yeah. Mark’s been the butt-end of some jokes, but it’s also timing. I feel like there’s a time and place for all of that. It’s all in jest. It’s all lighthearted, and Carson would disagree with this comment, but if I’m going to give it out, I have to be able to take it.”

On if there were any specific situations that Palmer helped him with yesterday:

“Just getting the certain play calls, certain things that we like, that again, being on the sidelines, you have a different perspective, a different viewpoint and a different set of eyes on something. I might be looking at my hot or the safety, and he can check out a corner. He can say, ‘OK, this corner’s playing heavy inside, technique, leverage. We can get a go right here, or we can do that.’ So, being able to do that is great for me, because he’ll not only give that piece of advice, but we’ll see it on the photos that we get on the sidelines, being able to utilize that, and then go out there and try and have success with it.”

On if it helps to face a Seahawks defense that’s similar to the 49ers defense on a short week:

“Yeah. That helps big time. I think that being able to have some carryover on the stuff we didn’t use last week against San Francisco. It is a little different though. Base scheme-wise, they’re similar in how they try and line up against you, but there’s different nuances within that, different game plan material that we saw from San Francisco that we won’t see from these guys. I’ve talked about it a little bit, but everybody wants that Seattle blueprint. It’s just that Seattle’s the only one that has the personnel to be able to execute it to the perfection that they do.”

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