Leftwich in charge in Arizona

An Arians disciple is new coordinator

A disciple of Bruce Arians now is in charge of the Arizona Cardinals offense.

Whether Byron Leftwich can awaken that slumbering unit remains to be seen.

But Arians’ influence is undeniable. “B.A., he’s the reason I’m here,” Leftwich said Thursday in his first meeting with reporters since getting the new job.

“It was just special that he gave me this opportunity. He’s been trying to get me to do it forever and he gave me the opportunity and once I saw it I fell in love with it.

“He knew the way I cared about football. He knew how much time and energy I put into this thing. I’m glad he got me into this thing because I love every minute of it right now.”

Leftwich inherits an offense that ranks last in the NFL in total yards and yards rushing and next-to-last in yards passing.

Rookie quarterback Josh Rosen sees the Arians influence. “Byron is sort of a B.A. descendent, and he [Arians] is sort of a ghostly legend in this building here,” Rosen said.

Bills

Running back LeSean McCoy returned to practice on a limited basis as he makes his way back from a concussion. McCoy suffered the injury early in Buffalo’s 37-5 loss Sunday to the Indianapolis Colts.

Elsewhere

The NFL fired down judge Hugo Cruz for inadequate performance. Cruz was in his fourth season as an official. Cruz, a part of referee Carl Cheffers’ crew, was involved in a missed call Oct. 14 in the Chargers-Browns game that led to a Los Angeles touchdown. The league said Cruz was fired for his overall work over a sustained period, not just for one specific play. The NFL Referees Association said it would challenge the firing. “The NFL has a troubling history of knee-jerk reactions with an eye on public relations, and clearly it has not learned from past mistakes,” NFLRA executive director Scott Green said.

Thursday night’s game

Deshaun Watson went 16of-20 passing for 239 yards and five touchdowns as the host Houston Texans torched the Miami Dolphins for a 42-23 victory. Lamar Miller handled the running chores against his old team with 18 carries for 133 yards and a score. DeAndre Hopkins and Jordan Thomas each had two touchdowns for the Texans.