• Facebook
• Twitter
• Facebook Messenger
• Pinterest
• Email
• print

Welcome to #CardsMailbag, a weekly installment that allows you to ask me questions about the Arizona Cardinals throughout the week via Twitter @joshweinfuss. I'll answer them every weekend during the season. Make sure to use the hashtag #CardsMailbag.

@joshweinfuss How do the Cardinals expect the QB situation to be moving forward? #CardsMailbag

— Christian Gin (@Christian_Gin) October 7, 2014

@joshweinfuss: I think once either Carson Palmer or Drew Stanton gets healthy, they'll regain the starting job with Logan Thomas as their backup while the other continues to recover. But once the stars realign, Palmer will be the starter, Stanton will be the backup and Thomas will continue to be inactive on game days.

@joshweinfuss How do the Cards overcome all these injuries? Thank God for BA & Keim keeping the ship steady. Big difference in leadership.

— sacred reich (@SacredReich) October 8, 2014

@joshweinfuss: It sounds cliche and like coach-speak right out of some coaching textbook but the whole "next man up" motto is really what's kept the Cardinals going this season. The players have bought into it. The coaches have bought into it. Everyone really believes that when someone goes down it's the job of the person behind them to step up and play. A couple of players told me this week that the whole notion of the front seven being in trouble because of injuries is being blown out of proportion. Do I believe that? Not necessarily. I think starters are starters and backup are backups in the NFL for a reason -- starters are more talented than backups. Take the Atlanta Falcons last season, for example. When Julio Jones and Roddy White went down, the passing game suffered dramatically. Why? Because the backups weren't as good as those two. I'm not sure I completely buy into the whole "it's time for the young players to step up" idea, either. Sure, rookies need time to grow and blossom and that happens at different rates for different players, but if a guy wasn't good enough to be a starter in training camp it's unlikely he'll be good enough to be a full-time starter during the regular season. That's where Bruce Arians, Steve Keim, Harold Goodwin and Todd Bowles are good at their jobs. They've taken players who aren't as talented as their starting counterparts and made them fit the scheme well enough to where there's little visible difference.

@joshweinfuss Do you think DC Bowles gameplan will change moving forward with MORE injuries to the front seven? #cardsmailbag

— Just The West (@JustTheWest) October 8, 2014

@joshweinfuss: No. I think defensive coordinator Todd Bowles has proven that it's not about the personnel, it's about the scheme. He did it last year with Matt Shaughnessy and John Abraham (granted they were both talented), and he's done it thus far with Frostee Rucker, Kevin Minter and Larry Foote. He will continue to do it with the absences of Shaughnessy and Calais Campbell.

@joshweinfuss Is Stanton or Thomas starting this week and will Palmer be backup? Also is Bowles a magician? #CardsMailbag

— John Steiner (@john181818) October 8, 2014

@joshweinfuss: Let me answer your last question first: Yes. As for your first question, it's very possible Palmer could be a backup depending on how his arm feels and how his treatment Friday in Denver goes. I wouldn't be surprised if Arizona keeps three quarterbacks active if both Stanton and Palmer are cleared.

@joshweinfuss #cardsmailbag if U R Bowles. Would U accept raiders job just to be HC or come back & wait a year for better opportunity..

— Antonio Esquivel (@HoneyBucketHero) October 9, 2014

@joshweinfuss In one word: No. It's not a situation that'll fit him well. He needs to go somewhere with some semblance of a talented and productive offense, and that's not the Oakland Raiders. Secondly, I think he'll get more offers than from just the Raiders this offsesaon.

@joshweinfuss How healthy is Mathieu? Why isn't he having the impact on def. like he had last year if he is a full strength?

— Clark McKinley (@clark_mckinley) October 10, 2014

@joshweinfuss: I think it's safe to say safety Tyrann Mathieu isn't quite back to full strength, both mentally and physically. But the biggest difference is that he's not getting the reps he needs to get back into the type of shape he was in last season and I don't see him having an impact like that until he's on the field on a regular basis.