The Arizona Republic

Is arriving early an advantage for Cards?

- KENT SOMERS

LONDON - This will be Cardinals running back Adrian Peterson’s second trip to London in three weeks, and Cardinals coaches and players have sought his opinion about the best way to handle such a long trip.

The Cardinals, Peterson said, have the right plan in place: arrive early in the week to adjust to the time difference.

Peterson thought that gave the Saints an advantage over Miami, which arrived in London late in week. The Saints won 20-0.

Peterson also advised players to sleep as much as they could during the flight to London. He didn’t do that the first time, and it took Peterson three days to adjust, he said.

“I actually got some sleep on the second flight,” he said, “so it was night and day from my first trip.”

The Saints played at Wembley Stadium, while the Cardinals and Rams are playing at Twickenham Stadium, about an hour from central London.

The Cardinals are staying at the same hotel as the Saints and practicing at the same facility: the home of the London Irish Rugby Club. Both venues are first class, Peterson said.

Peterson honored

On Wednesday, Peterson was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the eighth time in his career, but this week’s award is unique for him.

Peterson was with the Cardinals for five days when he earned this one by running for 134 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-33 victory over the Buccaneers last Sunday.

The Cardinals traded a conditiona­l 2018 draft pick to the Saints last Tuesday for Peterson, who had been the Saints’ third team back and carried just 27 times for 81 yards in four games with them.

He gained 85 yards in the first half for the Cardinals.

“Yeah, it’s amazing because you think about the first four weeks and you sit on the sideline,” he said on Wednesday. “For the first time in my career, I’m averaging less than 10 plays a game for four weeks. Then for this opportunit­y, for this trade, to happen and to come back my first game and be named NFC Player of the Week, it’s like a story that you see in a book. It’s just amazing, man.’’

The final 15

The main theme with the Cardinals last week was the dramatic improvemen­t made on offense. On defense, however, nothing changed, and that should be a concern for coaches. The Cardinals’ defense yielded 19 points in the fourth quarter against Tampa Bay. It’s the third time in six games the Cardinals defense allowed multiple scores in the final quarter. The Lions scored 13 points and the Cowboys 14. (Those numbers do not include intercepti­on and fumble returns for touchdowns.)

“We understand that momentum shifts in games,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “At the end of the day, we have to find ways to weather the storm. Luckily, we did last week, and we just have to continue building on finding ways, like you said, finishing ballgames.

“We started out fast, but we didn’t finish fast. We’ll start slow, then try to finish fast. We have to find ways to put both of those together so we can become that dynamic team that we know we are.”

Injury report

Defensive tackles Xavier Williams (knee) and Pierre Olsen (ankle) were the only Cardinals who did not participat­e in practice on Wednesday. CB Patrick Peterson (quadriceps tendon) was limited. For the Rams, three players did not practice because of injuries or illness: linebacker Mark Barron (thumb), safety Cody Davis (thigh) and defensive back Kevin Peterson (illness).

 ?? AP ?? Cardinals quarterbac­ks Drew Stanton (5) Carson Palmer (3) and Blaine Gabbert (7) take part in an NFL training session at the London Irish rugby team training ground in Sunbury-on-Thames, outside London on Wednesday.
AP Cardinals quarterbac­ks Drew Stanton (5) Carson Palmer (3) and Blaine Gabbert (7) take part in an NFL training session at the London Irish rugby team training ground in Sunbury-on-Thames, outside London on Wednesday.

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