All-Access with Bruce Arians: Not thinking about whether he’ll retire

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:

“Alright out for the ballgame: Josh Bynes, Troy Niklas and Earl Watford. Everybody else practiced in some form or fashion and have some gametime decisions on some guys.

“Solid week’s work. Really pleased with the effort on the practice field and the attention to detail was very good.”

Red zone execution has been talked about a lot. Is that one of those things where you’re not going to know until the game?

“Yeah, you don’t know until you get in the game. It’s totally different from practice. It’s one of the looks that’s very hard to get out of a scout team.”

What did you see out of Will Holden in his start last week at Washington? Did he get better as the game continued?

“Yeah, he did. He got a little bit better. As his confidence grew a little bit in the second half, he got a little bit better.”

Can you tell yet if he’s better at left or right tackle?

“He’s naturally left, so when you’re throwing him out there you try to keep him in a natural position for him.”

Have you been working Haason Reddick at two different positions this week?

“Yeah, he’s been double duty. With Karlos (Dansby) practicing, that eases up the pain as far as him getting him back to more reps today at his natural position.”

If you decide to retire, have you thought about the possibility of all this stuff coming up might be your last week?

“No, not at all. I don’t think about those things until the time for them.”

Do you see any similarities with Giants and Rams in how quickly they get up to the line of scrimmage?

“Yeah, with Mike Sullivan, they’re a little more up-tempo which plays right into Eli (Manning). He likes playing fast, and they got a good history so it’s been an easy transition, I think, for them.”

Do you think Elijhaa Penny was bothered by some nerves last week? He dropped a pass and also fumbled.

“Yeah, trying to do too much. He caught that same ball the week before and got about 20 (yards). And he’s like, ‘oh, I got a touchdown on this one’ and started running before he caught it. Same thing, he was going to make a cut before he got the ball. It’s just anxiousness more than nerves. Just trying to, ‘I got it, I got it, I got it; let me make a big play.’ Settle down and you will.”

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