When Carson Palmer strongly promoted how he expected big things from wide receiver Michael Floyd over the second half of the season, it shouldn't be a surprise. The quarterback is there to pump up/prop up his team. That's what leaders do (which is partly where his "I know people don't believe it and probably don't want to hear it, but I like where we are. We're the underdog" comment came from Wednesday) and it was also no surprise to hear Palmer talk about how wide receiver John "Smokey" Brown has responded excellently to his protocol for the sickle cell trait and looks like a different player and person.

So yes, you'd expect to hear such things from Palmer about two key wide receivers. It's also important to note -- at least from my perspective -- the Cardinals need at least one of those two guys, if not both, to play like they did in 2015 for the Cards to make the playoff push they are hoping to make.

This is a different season. But you can't take away a 1,000-yard receiver (which Brown was) or a receiver who had five 100-yard games among the last eight he played (which Floyd did) the next year without expecting at least similar production from at least one of them. Larry Fitzgerald is playing at the same level he did last season. J.J. Nelson has taken a step forward now that he's healthy. There's no question Palmer hasn't been exactly himself at times, but he's been good of late. The pass protection has had some fits and starts, and could be searching a bit now that left tackle Jared Veldheer is done.

We'll see if Floyd can indeed "explode" and if Smoke is a different player now. If either translates into production, that'd be a big step for the Cardinals and their second-half rally.