Cardinals OC Goodwin: Gabbert, Seals-Jones have a lot of upside

While the Arizona Cardinals left Houston Sunday with a 31-21 loss to the Texans, they also left with some optimism surrounding two new pieces of the offense.

In his first start as an Arizona Cardinal, quarterback Blaine Gabbert was better than expected. He went 22-of-32 for 257 yards with three touchdown passes and two interceptions. He was excellent in the first half, completing 11 of his 14 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin sees the potential in the 28-year-old.

“I thought Blaine did a good job last week,” Goodwin said Thursday. “I think he has a lot of upside to him so I’m excited to see him play again this weekend.”

General manager Steve Keim agreed.

“He was decisive, got the ball out quick, I thought for the most part he was accurate,” Keim said Monday of Gabbert, saying he was “excellent” in handling the offense.

“He has a great grasp of the offense, so I’m happy,” Goodwin said. “I’m happy to have him. Trust me.”

As for the other player, that was Gabbert’s favorite target, rookie tight end Ricky Seal-Jones, who caught two of those touchdowns and finished with three receptions for 54 yards in his Cardinals debut.

“That’s real,” Goodwin said of the chemistry between Gabbert and Seals-Jones. “I think you get a feel for a guy in situations.

“I’m excited for Ricky, I think (that’s) another guy that has a lot of upside.”

Head coach Bruce Arians said the same Monday of the link between the two players.

“He has a lot of chemistry with Ricky and Chad (Williams) because that’s who he threw to every single day,” he said. “So yeah, there’s a lot of chemistry there.”

When asked if Goodwin had any indication Seals-Jones would make the team and potentially have an impact, he said yes.

“When I see (defensive coordinator James Bettcher) over there getting pissed off on the scout team because [Seals-Jones] (is) making plays, so that’s when I knew we had something.”

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