Bruce Arians said after the game Sunday he would be looking at different receivers potentially going forward. GM Steve Keim echoed that sentiment Monday during his appearance on the "Doug and Wolf" show on Arizona Sports 98.7.
"We've been looking at wide receivers in a lot of different scenarios," Keim said, noting that the current group -- outside of Larry Fitzgerald -- haven't made the plays they had made in the past. That includes consideration of signing guys off the street, Keim said, as well as potentially poaching one from another team's practice squad.
Who is catching the ball is one of the storylines going forward, as is who is throwing it. Keim praised Blaine Gabbert's play -- calling him decisive, saying he got the ball out quick and was accurate "for the most part" -- as one of three players who really jumped out to him on a positive note. (The other two, of course, were Budda Baker and Ricky Seals-Jones.) He said Gabbert wasn't helped by a lack of run game or the drops. (A quick aside: Pro Football Focus said the Cardinals only dropped two passes but it's clear Arians and Keim thought it was more. Keim said six in his interview. I'd have to go back and watch, but at first glance I didn't not think Sunday was as bad as the Seahawks game.)
Keim gave no hints on who might start at quarterback this coming week. He did say Drew Stanton's knee was healing quicker than expected. He also said the quarterback decision would be made by Arians, but "we'll talk it through and it'll be a team decision." (In my opinion, it sounded like Keim would lean to giving Gabbert another start. We will see.)
-- The inability to run the football is getting under Keim's skin. "Some of it is getting our tail whipped at the point of attack, some of it is fundamentals," he said. Keim was disappointed in the blocking from the tight ends, and it the ability to block at the second level.
-- Baker is "fun to watch. He plays at a different speed." Keim loves both his explosive movement, his physical play and how much ground he can cover. He is "fantastic" in pass coverage, Keim added.
-- Asked about the fourth down call, Keim said "I have a lot of faith in Coach." Noted that Arians did drop passes, miss tackles or get dominated on the line of scrimmage, all of which were issues Sunday.
-- Keim was asked about, with a 4-6 record, he was now going to focus on the future in terms of roster building and also perhaps how the Cardinals determine playing time. Keim said he's looking at every scenario as always, scanning practice squads for other players, scouting college players, combining a look at the future as well as now. In terms of playing time, he used the Seals-Jones example of giving a guy a shot who also in term makes things better short-term. "If other guys aren't getting it done, give other guys an opportunity," Keim said.
