Bruce Arians on Cardinals WR drops: ‘You don’t give up on guys’

The Arizona Cardinals have a long week of practice and a healthy quarterback with Carson Palmer set to return for the next opponent, the New York Jets.

Head coach Bruce Arians made his weekly appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio’s Late Hits show to talk about the team’s win against San Francisco and the Monday Night Football showdown with former Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. The head honcho of the Cardinals talked about Drew Stanton’s performance last Thursday, the drops his receivers are dealing with and Tyrann Mathieu’s first game at slot corner.

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— There’s a reason Arians respects the heck out of backup quarterback Drew Stanton, who first teamed with B.A. when the latter was an assistant on the Indianapolis Colts. Arians remembered watching how hard Stanton pushed to rework his fundamentals as a young quarterback. “You can’t change their stroke. It’s hard to change Tiger Woods’ stroke — that’s probably a bad analysis now because he’s trying to change his … And I give Drew Stanton all the credit in the world. When we were in Indianapolis and I got Drew, Clyde Christensen, who I think is one of the best fundamental quarterback coaches in the league, worked on (Stanton’s) footwork and accuracy every day, and he improved drastically in one year.”

— Arians explained why Stanton’s line against the 49ers on Thursday — 11-of-28 for 124 yards and two touchdowns — didn’t look particularly impressive. “He was spot-on. We dropped about five balls, three of them on third down. Drew’s so smart and he works so fast. Balls were on receivers faster than normal, their heads came around, the ball hit them in the face, and we dropped them.

“It’s a matter of confidence. You don’t give up on guys. You know they can run routes and catch balls,” he added, then cited Michael Floyd’s dropped pass as he was tip-toeing the sideline. “Michael Floyd for instance, he’s just pressing too hard. We work the drill every single day — don’t look at your feet, look at the ball. He looks down at his feet and he drops the ball. It’s just a matter of confidence and continue throwing at them because you believe in them.

— Arians admitted that slot corner Tyrann Mathieu wasn’t 100 percent after moving from deep safety to his usual corner spot against the 49ers. He said the long week should help in the process of getting the Honey Badger back to full strength. “The thinking was he told me ‘I’m playing.’ I said, ‘OK, baby, you’re in.” It’s as simple as that. Was he ready? Not really. He got picked on a play he normally defends for a touchdown when he didn’t quite get outside in man-to-man coverage. But it was a step forward.”

— Carson Palmer is more than ready to return to the practice field Wednesday, Arians said. “He’s been in the weight room champing at the bit every day. Saturday morning (on a day off) I’m in there and he’s in here. I say, ‘What are you doing here?’ (He says) ‘What are you doing here?’ That’s my man. I love him to death because he’s a workaholic.”

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