Arizona Cardinals express shock, disbelief over Jonathan Dwyer news

The day someone reacts to a domestic violence arrest with, “Oh yeah, that makes sense,” would be a bad day.

So, really, it’s not necessarily a surprise that the Arizona Cardinals were in disbelief over what running back Jonathan Dwyer is accused of having done.

All throughout the team’s Tempe training facility Thursday people expressed shock over the story.

---

Head coach Bruce Arians, who coached Dwyer with the Steelers and now this year with the Cardinals

“It was like the worst nightmare a coach can have right now. For me, personally, I was totally shocked because I’ve known John a long time and it was totally out of character from what I’ve known. So I was extremely shocked by the incident. But we have to move forward.”

Receiver Larry Fitzgerald

“I think we were like everybody else, caught off guard. I’m still kind of caught off guard. I mean, it’s only been a day. It’s just…blindsided.”

“John’s very quiet. Hardworking guy, coming to work every day. He always had a smile on his face. He’s a good dude, never had a bad moment, it seemed like, around the guys. He was fun to be around. He worked hard and played well. He had a couple good games for us.”

Linebacker Larry Foote, who was a teammate of Dwyer’s in Pittsburgh before both joined the Cardinals this season

“No, never (any signs that something was possibly wrong). I mean everybody always plays those games, if you had to guess if it would be somebody, Jonathan would be the last on the list.”

“He’s a soft-spoken guy, I don’t know — if it’s true, I don’t really know — but I feel bad about the situation. Just a loving family, young couple. Just had a little boy and you couldn’t see it from the outside.”

Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander

“I’ve known him since the spring, and getting to know him, getting close to him, it’s the furthest thing in my mind that I’d think he’d be capable of. But people deal with a lot of things, you just never know and that’s why it’s good to build real relationships so that, as a man, that I could maybe have helped him out if I had known, somebody struggles in his relationship. You lean on each other and you learn from each other’s mistakes. Again, we’re going to be there for him. I never want to throw a guy under the bus. I obviously want to recognize what he did as wrong and just help him through it, get him the help that he needs, and that he comes out on the other side of this better, stronger, learning and can be a testimony to other young men that are coming up in their relationships with their wives and their girlfriends of how to handle it the right way.”

Running back Stepfan Taylor

“He’s always soft-spoken and things like that, so it was a shock.”

Safety Tyrann Mathieu

“You wouldn’t really expect that from a guy like him. I’m praying for him.”

Follow @theAdamGreen