All-Access with Bruce Arians: On depth, John Brown sliding and pundits eating crow
Aug 13, 2014, 8:14 PM | Updated: 8:14 pm
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Head coach Bruce Arians, now in his second year with the Arizona Cardinals, meets the media each day during training camp.
Here, in this space, we’ll highlight many of the key topics and personnel conversations he has with reporters following the morning walk-through:
“I thought yesterday was another really, really fast, excellent practice. We stacked two. It’s a good challenge to see if we can do it three days in a row, going Cardinals against Cardinals. Tomorrow we’ll work a little bit against Minnesota because they are different and we want to give our guys a chance to perform better.
How many plays do you expect your starters to be in for Saturday?
“Depends how it goes. If it was as good as last week it will probably be the same. If it’s not, we’ll play a little bit longer. I don’t really have a snap count, really, for anybody this week. Just watch and see how they play and go from there.”
A lot of linebackers are getting hurt around the league. When that happens, is it a cause for concern or just a crazy trend?
“It’s just bad luck. It’s one of those things. It does cyclically go through positions, it’s funny, and then everybody’s looking for one and there’s none out there to find. So you’re going to have to create one. That happens a lot of times — guy that has multiple position flexibility, it’s really valuable.”
Is the amount of depth on the roster a testament to the coaching staff’s ability to get young players up to speed?
“I think, first of all it goes to Steve (Keim) and Terry (McDonough) for getting quality players. Then for the coaching staff to develop them. That’s one of the reasons we do the double practices in the heat of the spring so that those guys get all those reps and they’re not way, way behind when we come to training camp.”
Do you think John Brown, given his speed, was overlooked because of his size?
“You never know who had what grades on guys. I know that people say, ‘hey, you got my guy right before we were going to take him,’ yeah, really? I’ve been through this so many times with small school, smaller receivers that are fast. A lot of guys like them 6-2, 220 that can’t run. I like those little fast guys.
Did you hear that from anybody this year about John Brown, that they were about to draft him before you did?
“Yeah, about three or four. They’re all lying.”
Are you interested in seeing how a player like Logan Thomas handles all the positive attention he’s been receiving since his preseason debut?
“It would be nice if he were getting a lot of reps this week, but it’s not his turn. I really enjoy all the guys who said he stunk coming out and should play him at tight end. They’re eating a lot of crow this week, so that’s fun.”
