Younger Leftwich to call plays
QB coach, Palmer separated in age by only a few days
On Saturday night, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer will be in the unusual position of receiving play calls from a younger man.
Quarterbacks coach Byron Leftwich, 18 days younger than Palmer, 37, will call plays against the Raiders in the Cardinals’ second preseason game.
Offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin called plays last week against the Cowboys, and coach Bruce Arians wants to give Leftwich that experience, too.
Palmer and Leftwich were both drafted in 2003, with Palmer going first overall to the Bengals and Leftwich seventh to the Jaguars.
Leftwich joined the Cardinals’ staff as an intern a year ago and became quarterbacks coach this offseason. He replaced Freddie Kitchens, who now coaches running backs.
“It is a little odd,” Palmer said of being about the same age as his position coach. “It’s even more odd that I’m older than he is, which I just found out the other day from Google.”
What prompted Palmer to Google Leftwich’s age?
“I got in an argument with somebody and said, ‘There’s no way I’m older than him.’ And then Google settled the bet.”
Nickname master
The Cardinals’ roster is full of players with unique first names, including Sojourn, Rudy, Budda, Cap, Ironhead, Gump, Zaviar, Scooby, Ulrick and Givens.
Arians is also good for producing a couple of new names for players, too. Two years ago, he dubbed tackle D.J. Humphries “knee deep” because putting only a foot in Humphries’ rear wasn’t enough to get him going.
This year, Arians is calling safety Budda Baker “fish bait” because of Baker’s propensity to bite on play-action fakes.
Over the years, a lot of people earned a popular 12-letter moniker from Arians, who usually preceded it with “dumb” or “stupid.”
When Arians was with the Steelers, receiver Emmanuel Sanders called home to tell his mother about his new name.
According to Arians, Sanders told her, “he must not like me because he keeps calling me ‘dumb (12-letter word).’”
No hitch with Brown
One of the most pleasant developments in training camp for the Cardinals has been receiver Jaron Brown.
Brown suffered a torn ACL in late October last season, yet has been running full speed without a brace for weeks now.
“It’s amazing,” Arians said, “because usually a guy has a gimp that year after (surgery). I don’t see anything out of him. It’s amazing.”
Brown’s return from surgery is one reason why it will be challenging for Chad Williams, the third-round pick this year, to play significant time.
Among those ahead of Williams on the depth chart are Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, J.J. Nelson and Jaron Brown.