Drew Stanton not surprised by Jaron Brown’s emergence for Cardinals

Some have called Jaron Brown’s performance Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings “eye-opening.”

Arizona Cardinals backup quarterback Drew Stanton wasn’t counted among them.

A guest of Burns and Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Monday, Stanton didn’t hesitate when he was asked if Brown surprised him over the weekend.

“Not at all,” he responded. “I got the chance to work with him throughout the entire season last season.”

Brown, a second-year receiver out of Clemson, caught two passes Saturday, logging a game-high 86 yards. He caught no more than double that yardage last season, when he connected with Carson Palmer 11 times, once in the end zone and six times for first downs.

But most of his work was put in on the Cardinals scout team along with Stanton, who found Brown for a 35-yard pass in the second quarter, giving Arizona a first down at the Minnesota 3-yard line.

“What people don’t see is when we’re practicing every single day on the scout team together, a lot of that stuff is just kind of on a card and you’re doing stuff,” Stanton explained.

“And at the same time, you grow a comfort level with someone. It’s when things get in tight windows when you have to rely on guys you can trust, but you also know what they’re going to do — that’s the biggest thing.”

With Brown, Stanton said, there is a real familiarity — or “comfort level,” in his words — which is what he credited for Saturday’s big play. There, at TCF Bank Stadium, the time spent together on the back field paid off, albeit in a preseason contest.

But Stanton has no expectation of Brown’s contributions ending come the regular season, though the Cardinals boast great depth at the wide receiver position. He not only anticipates his favorit scout team target being one of two J. Brown wide receivers to appear on the roster, but he thinks Cardinals fans will get used to seeing “Ja. Brown” in the box score, as well.

“Even if you look at some of the catches he had last year for us when we would get in our four wide receiver sets, he did a phenomenal job for us with that,” Stanton said. “He had a huge catch for us on 3rd down in Tampa Bay last year.”

To Stanton, Saturday wasn’t just an anomaly for Brown; it wasn’t a façade. The quarterback who has so often found the 6-foot-2, 205-pound target while preparing for an upcoming day seems to have the utmost troth in his skill.

“You can’t coach size and speed and big play ability,” Stanton said. “And he has that.”