Confidence was never an issue with Arizona Cardinals QB Drew Stanton
Sep 16, 2014, 11:08 PM | Updated: Sep 17, 2014, 12:45 am
TEMPE, Ariz. — It is easy, especially now after the fact, to talk about how much faith Drew Stanton had in himself and the Arizona Cardinals had in him.
But when you had as much time in between regular season passes as Stanton, there had to be a bit of doubt. That’s why the quarterback’s performance in a 25-14 win over the New York Giants Sunday in which he threw for 167 yards with no turnovers was a big deal.
“Any time you get a chance to go out there and play you want to put your best foot forward, because as everybody has documented, it’s been 1,000 days since I stepped foot on a football field for real,” Stanton said. “But you’re constantly being evaluated on everything that you do. It might not be seen every Sunday with what I’m doing, but I’m very confident in what I do. I feel like I have the respect of the guys on offense and hopefully earned a little bit more amongst all of my teammates that might not have known me before.”
It may be a bit naïve to assume no one had doubts about Stanton’s ability to lead the team. Though the Cardinals originally brought him in with the idea of being the starter before trading for Carson Palmer, there figures to be a reason Stanton had not thrown a regular season pass since 2010.
There may have been some bad luck involved, as the Lions — the last team he started for — added No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford, the Colts brought in top overall selection Andrew Luck, and the Jets added Tim Tebow.
“And I also knew that they were going to bring somebody else in here,” Stanton said, before adding that he is glad it was Palmer, with whom he has a great relationship.
Being able to deal with that kind of adversity helped draw Cardinals coach Bruce Arians to the passer.
“He’s tougher than hell,” he said. “That’s what I love about him. He’s got a true belief in himself, and you have to to play quarterback. He’s got a lot of confidence and a lot of guts.”
But then again, Arians did not want the team to sign Stanton to a three-year contract just because of his mental makeup. Though his career numbers entering the season consisted of Stanton completing 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,158 yards with five touchdowns and nine interceptions, the coach obviously felt the 6-foot-3, 236-pound former Michigan State Spartan could successfully lead an NFL offense.
“I’ve always had it; it just had to be proved to everybody else,” Arians said Monday of the confidence he had in the QB. “You guys finally got to see him play, and you’ve been hearing me talk about it, but you have to see it to believe it.
“And he can play much better. I think he was a little careful at times, threw some balls early because he was playing fast in his mind and the receivers weren’t quite there yet. He can play better, especially in the red zone.”
Given the uncertainty over Palmer’s health, it is possible Stanton will continue to be called upon. Seeing more reps in practice should help his comfort level, but there’s no substitute for real live, in-game experience.
Stanton said he will treat this week like any other, getting his workouts, watching film from the Giants game and then moving on to the 49ers.
“Just get prepared to play, and if I get called upon go do my best,” he said.
That’s all anyone can ask of Stanton, and really all the Cardinals want from him. Though the 49ers would likely be a tougher opponent than the Giants, there is little fear of what might happen if the backup is once again the starter.
“Whoever’s back there we’ve got full confidence in because they’re out there with us looking to win,” left tackle Jared Veldheer said. “Everyone’s goal is the same; everyone is pulling on the same rope. We’re looking to accomplish a win.”