After a sluggish start to the regular season last weekend, there were people in Arizona looking for drastic changes to the Cardinals offense when they got back on the field against the Colts this Sunday.
Quarterback Carson Palmer says they’ll get it, although the manner of the change should likely be filed under being careful about what you wish for. Running back David Johnson is gone for at least two months, which leaves the team without a dynamic presence both on the ground and as a receiver.
While Palmer says the team isn’t going to sulk about the loss, he isn’t going to say that it will just be business as usual either.
“It changes drastically,” Palmer said, via ESPN.com. “You lose, who I think, is one of the best football players in this league, things are obviously going to change. ... Well, Dave, I don’t know how many catches he had last year but there [are] a whole lot of catches there for somebody else. He had 2,000 yards of offense so somebody’s got to step up. We’re not going to run every single exact play that Dave ran, run routes because that was something very specific to Dave that he did really, really well. But the offense doesn’t completely change. You don’t run some of the same plays Dave ran but the things change when you lose a guy that produced 2,000 yards in one season.”
Coach Bruce Arians said that Johnson’s absence won’t increase pressure on Palmer because Palmer doesn’t play running back, but there’s little doubt that it’s going to make his life more difficult during a season that’s already seen growing doubt about Palmer’s ability to play at a high level.