Cardinals WR Greg Dortch is seeing all his hard work pay off

TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch wasn’t too worried over the course of the team’s final cuts Tuesday.

After a strong training camp and preseason, he had a good idea he would be a member of the initial 53-man roster.

Wednesday was another story.

As teams made their waiver claims, the wide receiver kept a closer eye on how things were transpiring across the league.

He’s been in this position before as a rookie with the New York Jets, where he earned a spot on the initial roster before getting released the following day.

This time around, Dortch watched as the team made just one waiver claim for a cornerback. His spot was still secure, a testament to the wideout’s drive, sacrifice and dedication to his craft.

“It feels great. God’s good,” Dortch said Wednesday after practice. “This is probably the hardest I’ve worked this offseason, so for it to all pay off, it feels really good.”

“I cut out a lot of BS, whether it was family or the things that I was eating, staying up late, video games, just all the BS that was keeping me away from what I really wanted to get to,” the wide receiver added. “It’s really paid off. Just to see all that hard work really come into fruition, it feels good.”

Dortch’s decision to focus on the task at hand over outside influences wasn’t an easy one, but it was necessary.

There are players that would love to be in Dortch’s position, adding to the wide receiver’s determination to make those changes in his life.

“If I can’t cut out whatever it is for that short period of time to lock into my goal and my dream and everything I worked for since I was a little kid, how bad do I really want it?” Dortch said.

And not only is Dortch on the roster, he could very well see his number called more in the offense than he has in past seasons.

On top of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins’ six-game suspension for PEDs, Antoine Wesley (groin/hip) and Rondale Moore (undisclosed) are dealing with their respective injuries heading into a Week 1 opener on Sept. 11.

That leaves Hollywood Brown, A.J. Green, Dortch and Andy Isabella as the only healthy and available wide receivers currently in the room.

There’s still more than a week left before Arizona’s opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, but if it came down to it, head coach Kliff Kingsbury and Co. are confident Dortch can handle whatever is asked of him in addition to his special teams play.

For now, though, Dortch is solely focused on continually pushing himself every day he steps foot in the training facility. That’s what got him here in the first place.

“I still got to go out there and work,” Dortch said. “Just because I’m on the 53 doesn’t mean anything’s guaranteed. Just going out to practice today and just attacking the day … and just let everything take care of itself after that.”

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