Cardinals’ Steve Wilks: Playing for draft pick is ‘loser’s mentality’

Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is not one for moral victories, but his team provided reasons to at least be optimistic about the future following a 24-16 loss to the 9-1 Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

“There’s a lot of things that we can build off of to get better,” Wilks said in his weekly press conference on Monday. “It’s very encouraging some of the things you saw on both sides of the ball as well as on special teams, and that’s what we’re going to continue to try and do.”

The Cardinals kept the game within a score until the fourth quarter when rookie quarterback Josh Rosen threw a pick on a screen pass that set up a four-play, 31-yard dive for a Chiefs touchdown.

Sunday’s game marked a resurgence of running back David Johnson, who had been a shell of himself so far this season. He finished with 98 yards rushing on 21 carries and a touchdown and caught seven balls for 85 yards and a receiving touchdown.

Standing at 2-7 and a likely failure to get into the playoffs, Wilks and the Cardinals are not focused on next year. Nonetheless, with seven games remaining, the Cardinals are projected to have a top five pick in next year’s NFL Draft.

“My mind is not really on draft picks right now,” Wilks said. “I’m trying to do everything I can to win football games.

“I’m not looking to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to be in the top five.’ That to me is a loser’s mentality. So we’re going to continue to work hard and at the end of the season — whatever happens — we’ll take that order.”

Only two of Arizona’s remaining seven opponents currently have a record above .500. The Cardinals play the Oakland Raiders (1-8) next Sunday at State Farm Stadium.

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