After a terrible 3-4 start to the season, and losing multiple key players to injury, the Arizona Cardinals will get a much-needed bye week and will look to salvage their season with 9 games left
As if losing David Johnson wasn’t enough, the Arizona Cardinals will now have to move forward for the interim without their starting quarterback Carson Palmer. The aggrieved team will need the rest, as they look to reevaluate their season so far. A season they find slipping away from them as each week passes.
Palmer joins Mike Iupati, David Johnson, T.J. Logan, Aaron Brewer, Markus Golden and Ronald Zamort on the list of players lost to serious injury. Albeit the aforementioned players are all on injured-reserve, Palmer is not, and will look to return before the season’s end, along with David Johnson.
A bye week should help alleviate some concerns, frustration, anger … and any other adjectives you can throw out to describe how bad 2017 has gone so far for this team. ‘Not well’ would be my assessment — and that’s putting it lightly.
And after already losing a handful of players, losing Palmer only adds insult to injury (pun intended). The signal caller underwent surgery this week and hopes he will be able to return before the eight-week initial time frame. For now, the keys to the offense will go to career backup, Drew Stanton.
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For now, however, it’s time for the Cardinals to step away, reset and clear their collective minds. A break that can either make or break the morale of the team moving forward. Something head coach Bruce Arians will need to get a grip on, as it seems he’s lost the handle on his team.
A botched report earlier this week said that Arians had no plans on returning after this year. Some might have felt relieved to hear that, even though it was a false report. I still do have faith in BA; however, but he’ll need to get his team focused for the remainder of the year.
Luckily, the bye week can bring a new sense of hope for this team. With 9 games left, even with the absence of key players, the Cardinals can show their character. Do that — that’s something the fans can respect.
Tank, and it’s back to the drawing board for Steve Keim and Co. and the window to win a championship will not only be shut, but perhaps one for good. Certainly the starving fans of Arizona deserve better.