ARIZONA CARDINALS

All-Access with Bruce Arians: Mapping out a business trip to London

Oct 16, 2017, 2:47 PM | Updated: 4:32 pm

(AP Photo)...

(AP Photo)

(AP Photo)

LISTEN: Bruce Arians, Cardinals head coach

TEMPE, Ariz. – Head coach Bruce Arians, now in his fifth year with the Arizona Cardinals, meets the media several times leading up to gameday.

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 following practice.

Opening statement:

“After watching the film, a lot of really, really good things on the tape. Probably the best first half of offensive football, team football, that we’ve played in a long time. I thought we relaxed after we scored and went up 31-nothing. I thought we relaxed at that point in time and started giving up plays we hadn’t been giving up during the game. Obviously, they were stacking it pretty good to stop the run, which they should. We didn’t convert a very easy 4th-and-2 and then obviously the fumble, Larry’s (Fitzgerald) fumble, for the touchdown made it way too tight. Justin (Bethel) had no business getting beat deep in that situation with a lead and playing zone coverage, but other than that, a lot of positive things.

Game balls, offensively, all the old guys: Larry, Carson (Palmer), Adrian (Peterson). Troy Niklas had a hell of a game, a touchdown catch, but one of the reasons we played so well was because he blocked the edge so well, along with Jermaine (Gresham). Defensively, Antoine (Bethea) and Tramon (Williams) for the interception – a big, big play that Tramon made – and Kareem Martin, who had a great game. It didn’t show in the stats as much as how well he played. Then Phil Dawson, mainly because it was his idea about killing the 2 seconds to kneel down, but he had seven touchbacks and made everything and was lights out.”

On how the team came out injury-wise:

“Pretty clean. Xavier (Williams) appears to be the same as Corey Peters was last week, just a sore MCL. I’m concerned about the travel. We’ll see how he is when we get over there and get off the plane. Along with Patrick (Peterson), how much swelling we have. We’re taking all the precautions we can on the flight, but we’ll see how we are when we get over there.”

On what the team can do for CB Patrick Peterson and WR John Brown on the flight as they nurse quad injuries:

“Pat’s really isn’t his quad. It’s a quad tendon. He was fine, and then he landed on it. He probably could have kept going. I didn’t want to risk it.”

On DL Olsen Pierre’s injury:

“He’ll be a game-timer, I think. He’s better than we thought. I think (Robert) Nkemdiche will be able to play, and we’ll see how that rotation goes.”

On whether the plan for RB Adrian Peterson was to give him as many touches and carries as he received:

“When you start, that’s what your job is. That’s what he wanted. I wasn’t going to tell him ‘No.’ It wasn’t like he wasn’t in great shape. He learned quickly. He put a lot of time in with (running backs coach) Freddie (Kitchens), and Freddie did a great job getting him ready.”

On the team’s schedule in London this week:

“We take off at 5. We get there at noon. We’ll unpack and go straight to a workout and break a sweat, try to keep them up and stay awake. If you’re going to take a nap, take it a little bit later in the day and then get a night’s sleep. Then, you’ll start catching up. Our practices will all be later in the day. We’ll meet in the mornings, but we’ll practice around 3:30 to 4:30-5:00 and then meet at night till 7 or 8 and stay on that schedule so they stay awake. It’s been pretty proven for the teams that I’ve talked to and the scientists and the sports psychologist and everybody else.”

On how much work goes into this trip from a football operations standpoint:

“Oh yeah. (Director of football operations) ‘Matty C’ (Matt Caracciolo) does an unbelievable job, and he’s been over there a number of times. I talked to (Saints head coach) Sean Payton and Adrian – they just went and stayed at the same place and practiced at the same facility – and got some tips from them, too. They thought everything was as good as it could be.

On whether he felt better about calling run plays after seeing how effective they were:

“Oh yeah. It’s easy. We were getting zero to one to two, and these were threes, fours and fives when they weren’t blocking very well. The first play of the game was actually the flea flicker, and they changed coverages and Carson audibled out and said, ‘Alright, we’ll get three.’ Second-and-3. That’s a lot better feeling.”

On the psychological impact that RB Adrian Peterson had on the rest of the team:

“I think there was a lot of hope until that first run and then that touchdown run. I haven’t seen this team run to the locker room at halftime with that much spring in their step in a long time. I wish we would’ve come out with a little more spring, or finished it, but it brought a lot of energy. He had to prove it too, and he did.”

On whether CB Tramon Williams is showing him enough to compete for CB Justin Bethel’s starting job:

“Yes.”

On whether Williams will be the new starting cornerback:

“We’ll see. We’ll see. He’s got to play more.”

On how he will be spending his long flight:

“Hopefully sleeping. I don’t sleep very well on planes. I’ll play a lot of solitaire.”

On whether Peterson will be able to replicate those snaps going forward:

“Oh yeah. He’s in fantastic condition. It’s not like he was off. He was playing, practicing, went through training camp. He’s always in great condition. I think that’s easy for him. Again, I’m not afraid of spelling him with Kerwynn (Williams). Kerwynn almost popped one. He’s gotten a shoelace on him a couple times now. So, we’ve got a very nice rotation there.”

On Peterson’s ability to shift and jump cut:

“That’s what I saw on tape in New Orleans. He had some cuts. He had one of those hits where at one yard, but he gained seven, on (Panthers linebacker) Luke Kuechly. I was like, ‘OK, he’s still got it.’”

On whether Peterson has more patience in the hole than other running backs:

“I wouldn’t say that. I think (Steelers running back) Le’Veon Bell and David (Johnson) are the exceptions. He hits it so hard, he bounces off. He’s still hard to bring down.”

On his impressions of Rams coach Sean McVay and how the Rams are playing this season:

“He’s done a fantastic job with that offense. They rebuilt their offensive line. They’ve stayed healthy. I think the smartest move was he brought in (defensive coordinator) Wade (Phillips) and turned the defense over to Wade, so he didn’t have to fool with it. He can focus on offense and they are moving the ball and scoring a lot of points. Then, (special teams coordinator) John Fassel is one of the best special teams coaches, and they’re winning. They scored two and set up another score on Sunday in Jacksonville. They’re winning on the road, so he’s done a hell of a job.”

On the Rams defense playing as well as it has in past years:

“It’s different, but it’s still the same players. Aaron Donald is Aaron Donald and (Robert) Quinn’s Quinn and (Michael) Brockers. They’ve got a ton of talent and speed with (Alec) Ogletree. It’s a different defense in playing a 3-4. Added Connor Barwin, who is a high-motor guy. Wade will stay with the 3-4. He won’t necessarily substitute with you. It’ll be fun. It’ll be a good chess match.”

On whether Rams QB Jared Goff looks like a completely different player:

“Yeah. Totally different. (Todd) Gurley looks fantastic, and all the new receivers that they’ve put in there. The young tight end is very, very explosive.”

On how much it helped both the running and passing game to get T D.J. Humphries and G Alex Boone back:

“Huge. Huge. They didn’t get enough credit. Adrian had places to run, and it’s so much easier for the tight ends at home because they can hear. When you put the tight end out there on the road in Philly and some of those places, they’re guessing and they’re usually reacting to a defensive player. So, they’re not going to have as good of success, but when you’re at home, you would anticipate it and they did a great job.”

On how pleased he was with Boone and Humphries’ conditioning:

“I kept checking with them and they said, ‘I’m good.’ I was worried about re-injuring, but they were fine.”

On whether he thinks about the possibility of having Peterson and Johnson in the backfield at the same time:

“No, I don’t even want to think about that because then it won’t happen.”

On WR Jaron Brown’s penalty:

“It was a block in the back, and it’s something that we could have blocked it differently. It did affect the play, so I thought it was a good call.”

On what his message was to the team about traveling to London and being out of its element:

“It’s the same for both teams. We’re not going to Europe for a sightseeing trip. We’re there for a business trip. They can go back in the offseason. It’s an away game, and we talked about it a little bit. We went to the Greenbrier and stayed there and had a great week of preparation in a different environment. I wouldn’t anticipate anything different and the veteran guys taking care of the young guys.”

On what kind of impact this type of trip can have on the team going forward in terms of bonding:

“That’s training camp stuff. Some of these guys just got here in the last few weeks. We signed a new practice squad guy. So, that ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

On how well the play-action went once the team established the running game with Peterson:

“Oh yeah. Larry’s touchdown was a ‘give me.’ All 11 guys came flying forward. When you run it, you get easy touchdowns, especially in the red zone. We were four-of-five for the first time this year because we ran the ball better down there. The only time we got stopped, fumbled a snap on the one and it was a walk-in touchdown.”

On whether now he’ll be able to call more plays that he had been keeping in his pocket:

“Each team is so different. That 15-yard line in is a new offense every week, or a new philosophy every week, just depending on what you see defensively.”

On whether the hit involving WR Larry Fitzgerald was helmet to helmet:

“Yeah, but he was not considered defenseless at the time, in their opinion, on the field, and he thought he hit him with his facemask.”

On whether he thought Fitzgerald was down on the called fumble:

“It looked like it on that board up there. I don’t know who got that yellow pen that kept circling it. I thought it was the television.”

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