TEMPE, Ariz. – Tyrann Mathieu was patient.
The Arizona Cardinals safety waited his turn after last season’s Week 14 win to speak with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. Once the Honey Badger got the attention of the best rusher in the league, it wasn’t the young Mathieu heaping admiration on the older Peterson.
It was the other way around.
“I like how you play the game,” Peterson said to Mathieu. “Not too many guys who play the game the way you play. Much respect. Keep it up.”
Then they hugged and parted ways, one established superstar sharing his admiration for another up-and-coming star.
What else we learned in Episode 5 of "All of Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals":
Part of the reason the Cardinals placed Chris Johnson on IR/designated to return after he broke his leg against San Francisco was because coach Bruce Arians felt Johnson deserved the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl – the first game he’d be eligible for upon returning – should the Cards have made it. “He’s earned that right,” Arians said.
Running backs coach Stump Mitchell felt rookie David Johnson should’ve been tallying 150 yards per game – rushing and receiving combined. “You just need to go out and play like you play,” Mitchell said, adding he shouldn’t try to reproduce what Chris Johnson or Andre Ellington was doing. “Just want [you] to play up to your ability, and if you do, oh, s---,” Mitchell said.
Before the Rams game in St. Louis, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald called the wide receivers and tight ends the “playmakers” during a pregame huddle.
Fitzgerald also dropped an f-bomb, which must've caught many viewers by surprise.
Veteran center Lyle Sendlein provided some interesting perspective on how the Cardinals’ internal expectations have evolved over his nine seasons with Arizona. The team used to just want to make the playoffs with the hope of getting hot and going on a run. By time Sendlein entered last season, the Cards’ initial goal had progressed to winning the division, he said.
Sendlein’s wife, Lindsey, gave some insight on what it’s like to not receive the comfort of a long-term contract. She said “it’s hard to connect to people and make friends because it’s like, ‘we’ll probably be gone.’ It’s tough from that aspect.”
The morning after Fitzgerald had a pancake block against a Minnesota defensive back, the Cardinals' vice president of player personnel, Terry McDonough, wondered to GM Steve Keim if there’s a better blocking receiver than Fitzgerald. “If there’s a better blocking receiver in the NFL than Fitzy, I want to see him,” McDonough said. “When do you ever see a receiver bury a DB like that in space?”
As the Cardinals entered Week 15 against Philadelphia, Arians made sure they knew how important the game was, mainly because it could clinch Arizona the division title. “Very few times you get to play for a hat and a T-shirt,” Arians stressed during a team meeting.
When Carson Palmer hurt his right index finger, Arians knew instantly. “He’s hurt,” Arians said. “He ... dislocated his finger.”
And Mathieu knew instantly when he injured his ACL. Cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross came to Arians sand said, “He said the ACL felt loose.”