Dealing Cards: Zac Dysert could be the next man up at QB in San Francisco

TEMPE, Ariz. — It is often talked about how the vice president of the United States is “one heartbeat away from the presidency.”

Obviously football is not nearly as important as running the country, but a similar mantra will likely be applied to Zac Dysert, who on Thursday will likely to be one play away from running the Arizona Cardinals’ offense.

Dysert, who was signed to the Cardinals’ practice squad on Sept. 6, was promoted to the active roster on Tuesday as starting QB Carson Palmer works his way through the league’s concussion protocol. If Palmer is not cleared in time for Thursday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, Drew Stanton will be the starter, with Dysert being the backup.

Should something happen to Stanton, the 26-year-old former seventh-round pick out of Miami (OH) who has never thrown an NFL pass would be the next man up. With that being an actual possibility for the first time, Dysert said his approach will not change.

“Not much,” he said Tuesday. “I try to prepare like I’m the starter every week, or the backup, whatever you want to say, just so that when the time would come nothing would really change in my routine or my scheduler or anything like that.

“So just trying to take advantage, trying to show the coaches that they can put trust in me, and the guys, things like that. So, just, yeah, trying to take advantage.”

Dysert was a four-year starter in college after redshirting as a freshman, and when his time in college was up he left as the RedHawks’ all-time leading passer, moving ahead of Ben Roethlisberger. He finished college having completed 63.8 percent of his passes with 12,013 yards and 73 touchdowns with 51 interceptions.

From there he was chosen by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 2013 Draft, and after spending a couple seasons on their roster he then had stints with the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills and Dolphins before landing in Arizona.

Over four preseason appearances this year with the Dolphins, Dysert completed 20-of-31 passes for 202 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also gained 19 yards on seven carries.

Though he has yet to appear in a regular season game, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has been impressed by what he’s seen from the young passer.

“He’s a very accurate guy, and he’s picked up the offense really quick,” Arians said.

Dysert said he has learned plenty about the team’s offense in the month he has been with the team, though he admitted there is always room to improve and get more familiar with the playbook.

“From the time I’ve been here I’ve been preparing every day and studying every day, watching film every day,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable.”

Injury update

The Cardinals made a flurry of roster moves on Tuesday because of their growing injury list, with two players — safety Tyvon Branch and running back Chris Johnson — landing on IR with groin injuries and punter Drew Butler being waived. As the official injury report shows, tight end Darren Fells (shoulder), defensive lineman Ed Stinson (Toe) and QB Carson Palmer (concussion) were all held out of practice for the second straight day.

About Branch and Johnson…

Both Branch and Johnson left Sunday’s loss to the Rams with what the team described as groin injuries, though at the time no one was sure how serious their ailments were. That was learned in part Tuesday when both landed on injured reserve, and while one of them could conceivably return to the team in eight weeks due to a league rule, at least one of them is done for the year.

Arians said he would like to see the rule change to where more than one player can be brought back from IR.

“I think more like baseball is a better rule, because some guys heal faster,” he said. “Tyvon and Chris are having the exact same surgery. One might heal in four (weeks), one might take six.

“You’d like to be able to bring guys back that do get healthy.”

Arians said the surgery the two are undergoing is for hernias.

Branch figures to be replaced by a combination of Tyrann Mathieu and other defensive backs, whereas the bulk of Johnson’s work will now go to Andre Ellington, whom Arians expressed great confidence in.

But while the team may move on, losing them — Johnson, especially — is an emotional blow.

“You feel bad for him because he did such a great job on the comeback and he was starting to hit it again,” Arians said. “I just feel bad for him. He’s such a great kid and such a hard worker.”

With Branch gone, Mathieu to fill in

On Tuesday, Tyrann Mathieu told the media (and in turn, his coaches) that he was ready to return to his former role as the nickel corner in the slot, closer to the line of scrimmage.

With Branch out, that would appear to be a necessity.

“It helps that he thinks he’s ready,” Arians said, noting they had Marcus Cooper and a couple other players practice in the slot. “But no one plays it like Ty, when Ty feels like he’s ready.”

Arians said Mathieu made it clear to him that he thinks he’s ready, and the coach said if his player says it, he believes him.

And since Arians and the coaches believe Mathieu, his time to return to the slot is at hand, as defensive coordinator James Bettcher said Mathieu will get some time there against the 49ers.

“I think he’s excited about it, we’re excited about it,” he said. “There will be some things he’ll do out there playing in the slot this week, yep.”

The move, Bettcher said, is a combination of the ripple effect of losing Branch and the fact that Mathieu is incredibly effective in the nickel corner role.

“Obviously losing Tyvon, I tell you what, I love how he plays the game — he plays with a ton of passion, a ton of energy — he’s an extremely smart player and we’re going to miss him while he’s getting himself healed up.

“But I think Ty, if you ask him, he’s ready and we’re ready to see him out there doing things that he’s done in the past.”

Where did the fans go?

You don’t need to go too far into the past to find when the Cardinals were the toast of the town, the most popular team with people wearing their gear and proclaiming their fandom at every turn.

After a 1-3 start, though, the exuberance has turned to panic, and the bandwagon is a little lighter.

“It’s funny,” receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “I drive down the street and I remember, like, seeing peoples’ garages and they have the Cardinals flags out — I’m seeing some of those flags down now. You know, that’s disappointing.

“But we have to do our job to make those people put those flags back up.”

Fitzgerald was smiling as he talked about the lack of flags, but turned serious when talking about why the support has waned. He understands the team needs to play much better and earn the support.

However, one area you would not expect Fitzgerald to need to work for support is with his son, who evidently missed Sunday’s game against the Rams.

“One of his friends had a birthday party in San Diego, and he said, ‘Dad, I know I haven’t missed any games — ever — but I want to go out to this birthday party in San Diego,’ so that told me everything I needed to know about the way things have started.

“Hopefully we can start earning back his trust.”

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