Hollywood Brown wanted Kliff Kingsbury to ‘get another chance’ with Cards

Many would agree a change at head coach was necessary for the Arizona Cardinals in their current state.

Posting a dismal 4-13 record to go along with off-the-field distractions and a pile of injuries to key players, head coach Kliff Kingsbury certainly had it coming from all sides in his final 17 games in the desert.

Wide receiver Hollywood Brown, who wrapped up his first season as a Cardinal on Sunday, would have liked to see his former head coach get another shot at righting the wrongs of the past year.

“I (expletive) with Kliff,” Brown said Monday on his Twitch channel alongside WR Antoine Wesley. “I wanted Kliff to get another chance with a healthy group. But at the end of the day, it’s a business. I know that boy Kliff is (going to be fine).”

To say Arizona had a tough go of it when talking injuries and availability on the offensive side of the football would be an understatement. Quarterback Kyler Murray is the leader in the clubhouse when it comes down to key losses after suffering a torn ACL in Week 14, but he was far from the only Cardinal to go down at some point or another in 2022.

In addition to his six-game suspension to start the season, No. 1 wideout DeAndre Hopkins missed the final two contests of the year with a knee issue.

Tight end Zach Ertz, who was the team’s most consistent pass catcher, saw his season cut to just 10 weeks due to a season-ending knee injury.

Fellow wide receiver Rondale Moore appeared in just eight games thanks to a hamstring issue at the beginning of 2022 and a groin injury that placed the second-year pro on the IR.

Brown wasn’t immune to injury, either, spending time on injured reserve with a foot injury. The wide receiver now enters the final year of his rookie contract after the team picked up his fifth-year option this past season.

Along the offensive line, Kelvin Beachum was the lone starter to play in every game in the trenches. Starting center Rodney Hudson appeared in only four games. Left guard Justin Pugh and left tackle D.J. Humphries were lost for the season with a knee and back injury, respectively. Right guard Will Hernandez also spent time on the IR.

The constant carousel of injuries offensively did the team no favors as it posted a middle-of-the-road 20 points per game. And that’s not even taking into account the defensive side of the football, which saw only safety Jalen Thompson play every game in 2022.

But as Brown said, the NFL is a business and a results-based one at that. For those still on the team, all they can do is sit and wait for the next shoe to drop as the team searches for a new head coach.

One of the names already being linked to the Cardinals has been former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, who has an interview already lined up with the Denver Broncos for their vacancy.

“Sean Payton is one of them ones,” Brown said when someone mentioned the former Saint as a potential replacement. “Whoever they bring in just got to go to work.”

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