The sports writer father of Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald has ripped one of his son’s teammates, writing on Twitter that Early Doucet doesn’t work hard enough.
“Early Doucet bombed this year he drops to many passes not a dependable No.2. Needs to work harder at his job. He dropped 5 TDs this year,” Larry Fitzgerald Sr. wrote on Twitter.
Fitzgerald Sr. followed up on that with Mike Sando of ESPN.com, saying that he knows his son wanted to work with Doucet during the lockout and that Doucet declined.
“I just know that Larry invited him to come and work out with him this summer and some guys take initiative and do it, some guys don’t,” Fitzgerald Sr. said. “But with the lockout, I thought he would have worked on it a little harder. That is me. People criticize me because they think I talk too much. That is just how I see it.”
On Sunday against the Bengals Doucet tripped and fell and missed a huge opportunity as the Cardinals were trying to score late in a game they would lose, 23-16. Fitzgerald Sr. says that’s a common problem for the Cardinals: Other receivers get open thanks to his son drawing double coverage, but those other receivers don’t take advantage of it enough.
“I wasn’t picking on him,” Fitzgerald Sr. said. “I track when he drops the ball in critical situations. They use Larry the way they are going to use him, so they know others are going to be singled [in coverage]. The Ravens game, he dropped one on the goal line. I remember other games. Now that they’re out of the playoffs, I’m putting it out there.”
Fitzgerald Sr. putting it out there could create some awkward conversations for Fitzgerald Jr. in the locker room.