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The Cardinals (6-0) opened preparations for the Houston Texans,
whom they'll host Sunday in Glendale, Ariz., without Kingsbury,
who remains in COVID protocol. Defensive coordinator Vance
Joseph and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Jeff
Rodgers split coaching duties during last week's 37-14 win over
the Browns and their roles will remain the same until Kingsbury
returns.
In the interim, Joseph acknowledged precisely what and where
Kingsbury is involved.
"Everything. Everything," Joseph said. "Obviously the offensive
game plan, he's obviously built that this week. There's been a
bunch of virtual meetings with the offensive staff and the
entire staff, obviously, so nothing's changed as far as who's
building the game plan right now. It's Kliff.
"He has a lot of time right now, obviously, to be a scientist so
he's enjoying that time. He misses his team, obviously, but he's
enjoying the time to study football."
One certainty for the Cardinals on Sunday is three-time Pro Bowl
tight end Zach Ertz, acquired last week from the Philadelphia
Eagles. Ertz recorded 579 receptions for 6,267 yards and 38
touchdowns over eight-plus seasons and will fill the role of
Maxx Williams, lost for the season to a knee injury.
Ertz practiced Wednesday for the first time with the Cardinals,
whom he joined over the weekend. He delved headlong into
grasping how the Cardinals operate offensively and, given his
extensive experience, the expectation is for Ertz to be up to
speed when the Texans visit.
"I think for most experienced veterans it won't take long,"
Joseph said. "Offensive football, even defensive football, it's
not much difference from team to team. It's just terminology.
"Once that's cleared up he'll play Sunday, and play fine on
Sunday."
The Texans (1-5) suffered their fifth consecutive loss last
weekend in Indianapolis. For the second time in three weeks,
they failed to muster a competitive effort, following a 40-point
road loss against Buffalo in Week 4 with a 31-3 setback to the
Colts.
Houston followed that showing by releasing veteran defensive end
Whitney Mercilus in what was described as a mutual parting.
Mercilus, a first-round pick of the Texans in 2012, amassed 57
sacks while starting 102 of 134 games. With the Texans leaning
into a rebuild, Mercilus didn't fit their immediate plans. The
chore moving forward is dealing with the optics of such a move.
"No, they understand that," Texans coach David Culley said. "We
come in every day, they read and they hear, and they know, and
they talk. That's part of the business, and they know that
happens.
"Basically, when those kinds of things happen, all we do as a
team in our team meetings is the guys that are coming in that
are becoming additions to our football team, those are the guys
that we sit and talk about in our meetings. And all the other
stuff, we just move on to the next opponent."
--Field Level Media
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