As most people probably expected, the firing of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was the dominant topic at Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks’ press conference on Friday afternoon.
Wilks’ explanation for making the move after a 1-6 start was a simple one. Wilks called Thursday night’s loss “embarassing” and said the offense under McCoy wasn’t “productive enough and that may be an understatement.” Wilks talked about the need for better play from the offensive line and quicker communication about play calls during games, but the lack of production has been most glaring with running back David Johnson.
Johnson has run 106 times for 335 yards and caught 20 passes for 166 yards so far this season and Wilks said that he hopes new offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich’s history with the team — he came onboard in 2016 — will help things move in the right direction.
“With Byron being here before and being a part of that and understanding the success [Johnson] has had in the past, hopefully we can tap into that,” Wilks said.
The Cardinals will host the 49ers next Sunday and they’ll have a bye in Week Nine, so Leftwich will have some time to work with the offense before the second half of the season gets underway. If that work results in better production for Johnson, the rest of the results should be more positive as well.