Cardinals hope Price is right for offensive line

It’s the first week of November, and the Cardinals have two players that didn’t join the team until last month, but are developing prominent roles on the offense.

One is center Billy Price, who was signed off the Raiders practice squad Oct 4 because of the absence of the injured Rodney Hudson

The other, wide receiver Robbie Anderson, has played sparingly in the previous two games after being acquired in a trade with the Panthers Oct. 17, the day following the foot injury suffered by receiver Hollywood Brown against Seattle.

With the next three games being particularly crucial, there is now a plan to quickly have Anderson be more involved.

Coach Kliff Kingsbury said, “I think he’s made big strides. I hope he can have a larger role this week. We’re going to try to force feed (him) some stuff and try to get him out there a little bit more.”

While many often have unrealistic expectations in similar situations, Kingsbury was asked if it’s taken longer than expected for Anderson to adjust to his new surroundings. Let’s remember that he came to Arizona in the short preparation week for the Thursday night game against New Orleans and basically had three practices prior to his second game.

Kingsbury responded, “No, not at all. It’s just in season there’s not a lot of teach time. There’s more game-plan time and getting ready for the opponent, so it’s just kind of the nature of the situation there at that position.”

Meanwhile, quarterback Kyler Murray raised the expectations when he said Wednesday, “You’ve kind of just got to force everything on him and see if he can take all the information in as quickly as possible and if not back off a little bit. I think he’s a very smart player and he understands what we’re doing now. This is Week 3 for him, so he’ll be up to speed by this weekend for sure.”

At least, he hopes he will be. Force-feeding someone can also have negative results, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

As for Price, he entered the NFL as a first-round pick with the Bengals in 2018 and started 34 games with the Bengals and Giants. Fifteen of the starts came last season with the Giants after he was traded at the cutdown to 53 players. So, he has experience learning things quickly.

It’s especially critical for the center, who has numerous responsibilities aside from just blocking. After becoming a free agent in March, Price wasn’t with a team until the Raiders signed him to their practice squad on Sept. 14 and three weeks later, he was on his way to the desert.

“Learning two playbooks in six weeks wasn’t easy, especially being out there in Vegas in the Patriots system,” Price said of the offense operated by former New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “Here, it’s complex, but I’ve done similar things in similar schemes in my time in New York and my time in Cincinnati — there was even some carryover in Vegas.

“It’s tough, but you have to clean your brain, have a blank slate and be able to just absorb what we’re doing now and focus in. It’s been nice to be able to focus in on a week-by-week basis of the playbook. Not necessarily trying to absorb the whole thing as you would do in training camp.”

Price is trying to fill the ample shoes of Hudson and that’s not an easy task. But, he’s been glad that Hudson is there for him at practice and during games.

He said, “If you scan the sideline, I’m always sitting right next to him just to see what he sees and his experience in this division and understanding players and coverages just to increase my knowledge of the game.

“Something I’m not used to is reading coverages as much playing center. I’ve done it in the past, but having this offense and just being able to help the total package, it’s really been helpful to have him on the sideline at all times. He’s a first-round Hall-of-Fame center (we’ll see about that), so he’s an incredible asset to have.”

Tight end Zach Ertz said he has been impressed with Price’s approach: “He’s a guy that came in here and just seeing him able to articulate and verbalize kind of the entire offense quickly was very impressive and you love playing with a guy that’s able to be loud and be in command because everything starts with the center. He’s got to tell us who we’re identifying as kind of the point or the Mike (linebacker). And he just really hit the ground running in that regard. So I’ve really appreciated his approach to football and being the best lineman he can be.”

Because of moving pieces on the offense, the Cardinals have been huddling between plays the last two games and that’s led to some issues getting plays off in time.

Asked about that approach, Price said, “It’s both good and bad. Offensively, we’re so used to playing fast that slowing things down can kind of get guys out of rhythm and you’re giving the defense an opportunity to catch their breath. So with our guys being able to exploit our speed, exploit us being able to get on the edge, that really helps with the tempo.

“However, with new guys like myself, other changes in the line, Robbie Anderson coming in, slowing the pace can help, because at the end of the day, you still want to be efficient, executing your plays versus just running around out there.”

Sometimes mistakes will happen like a false start against the Saints and an early snap against the Vikings on third-and-8 from the Minnesota 11-yard line.

While saying “glad that I’m on his side now,” Price added that said communication with Murray is improving.

“It’s just what he wants, that’s what we have to do, no matter what,” Price said. “If he wants to change a protection, change a play, and understanding his operations as well. I had a false start against the Saints and it’s an operation error just me getting used to him. That’s all it is.

“You don’t want any of that kind of stuff to happen, like against Minnesota. You don’t want it to happen at all. In Minnesota, that’s a (potential) four-point differential. So it’s just operational things. It’s things that I’m going to continue to get used to and how we do things here. Just eliminate those as we go forward.”

While there are lots of narratives about about play-calling, players understand it’s about them.

Ertz said, “When you don’t execute properly in the NFL, you’re gonna get exposed. And there have been times where we just haven’t executed our best. We had some really good drives against a really good football team last week. We put up 26 points, had every opportunity to win the football game and it came down to the fourth quarter. And we didn’t make enough plays. And that’s just kind of been the theme so far this year: We’re close, but not making enough plays when we need to.”

Price agreed, saying, “Everybody’s got to execute and do their job on each individual play. That’s easy to be said. But that’s what football is: making sure you maximize and capitalize on what your job is … every single play.”

Inside slants

Another week, another lengthy injury report for the Cardinals with 11 players having practice time affected. The Wednesday and Thursday practice report was the same each day.

Not practicing were safety Budda Baker (ankle), center Rodney Hudson (knee), tackle D.J. Humphries (back), guard Max Garcia (shoulder), defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter (ribs) and cornerback Christian Matthew (hamstring).

Limited were running back James Conner (ribs), cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. (back), kicker Matt Prater (right hip) and linebackers Dennis Gardeck (ankle) and Cameron Thomas (back). Tackle Josh Jones (knee) had full practice both days.

Baker and Thomas were newcomers to the list following the game against Minnesota.

Asked if he is concerned about Baker, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Thursday, “Hopefully, tomorrow he’s feeling better to play, but I’m not sure to be honest.”

Humphries had played the first seven games of the season before being out last Sunday.

Kingsbury said, “We’ll see how it goes. It’s day-to-day right now, and that’s all we can kind of go with. We’ll see how he feels, but he’s tough. He would’ve played this week if he could have, if we would’ve let him, but we want to be smart with that deal. I’m not sure he’ll make it by Sunday.”

As for Josh Jones, who replaced Humphries, Kingsbury said, “I was proud of Josh. I thought he stepped up. That’s a really good front, obviously some of the best rushers in football and he battled, knew his assignments, and competed at a high level. That’s what we’ve wanted to see from him.

The Cardinals also added two defensive players to the roster this week, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill and defensive lineman Trysten Hill.

Grugier-Hill was signed after being granted his release from the Texans. Hill was claimed on waivers from the Cowboys.

Grugier-Hill is ticketed for the inside and Kingsbury said, “We really just found a player that we felt was playing at a high level and could add some value as we move on throughout the season. That’s all it came down to. (He was) a really productive player in Houston.”

Joseph said he will cover kicks and be a backup, “but he’s played a bunch of football, especially on third down so we’ll see moving forward how he fits, but he’s definitely engaged. He’s intelligent. He’s played good football in the past and he wanted to be here, so that’s important also. But he’s a good fit for us.”

On Trysten Hill, Joseph said the Cardinals “inquired about him last week and couldn’t get it done. But to have him, it’s a good thing for us. He’s a guy that’s quick. He plays the nose in the shade and he can rush the passer. He arrived about three hours ago (at 9:45 am) so I don’t have a plan for him yet. We’ll see what he knows by Sunday, but he’s definitely eager to play and his tape’s good.”

Asked when a player like Hill becomes available if he wonders why he was cut, Joseph said, “It depends. It could be system, it can be just having too many guys. You can’t play them all. But the tape’s good. I can’t speak for Dallas not wanting him, but I know he can help us and I’m looking forward to coaching him and getting him involved. But that’s a great question. Nobody’s letting go good players, but sometimes it’s a matter of strictly numbers.”

Don’t hesitate to comment or ask questions on Twitter @hbalzer721 or email me: howard@gophnx.com