Cardinals coach Bruce Arians defended quarterback Carson Palmer by saying that there are “guys that haven’t come through for him” this season, which shows that Arians isn’t fond of what he’s seen from everyone on offense.
The same is true on the other side of the ball with rookie defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche standing as one of the players that’s failed to impress the coach. The first-round pick has only played in three games this season, something that Arians attributed to Nkemdiche’s approach to the game.
“Talent [is] not an issue,” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “Maturity is. And it’s just maturing.”
Arians reportedly took issue with the way Nkemdiche was dressed after last Sunday’s loss. Players are supposed to wear a shirt and tie after road losses and Nkemdiche was wearing a t-shirt with his suit and caught some flak from Arians for it.
Arians was asked if the issues with maturity was similar to what tackle D.J. Humphries went through during his rookie season and answered that it wasn’t similar because Humphries worked harder than Nkemdiche is working this season.
Nkemdiche came out of college with the reputation of being a talented player who fell short on the work ethic side of things. That reputation isn’t going away and it will probably need to if he’s going to earn a prominent role on defense in Arizona.