WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Notes, Quotes

The Sports Xchange

October 04, 2018 at 1:09 am.

–Kicker Phil Dawson had a private meeting with head coach Steve Wilks on Monday, a day after his second missed field goal on Sunday against the Seahawks, a potential game-winning 45-yard attempt with 1:55 left and the score tied at 17. The chat went well, both coach and kicker agreed.

It was rookie quarterback Josh Rosen coming up to Dawson and offering some encouraging words after the pivotal miss that Dawson won’t soon forget.

“Here’s a rookie making his first start and he comes up to the oldest – well, the second-oldest guy in the league – and has some words of encouragement,” Dawson said.

Dawson will appear in his 300th NFL game on Sunday when he faces his former team, the 49ers. He will become the 11th player to reach the 300-game milestone.

“Obviously coming off a game like last week, super downer,” he said. “You’re going to have ups and down and to be able to survive them and accomplish something like this means a great deal.”

–When Josh Rosen connected with Chad Williams for his first career NFL touchdown pass, Williams set the ball down in the end zone and celebrated by leaping up into the stands at State Farm Stadium. Rosen, meanwhile, ran over and picked up the football and took it with him to the sideline as a keepsake.

Reminded that the touchdown was also Williams’ first in the NFL, Rosen said he might have an idea with how to rectify the owning rights over the football.

“Maybe we’ll see if you can cut in half or something and get like one side painted,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”

–A week after only getting one snap on defense, linebacker Deone Bucannon was back in his starting role and was in on 43 snaps against the Seahawks. He finished with five tackles and forced a fumble.

“Again, we just continue to try to find a right mix on defense,” head coach Steve Wilks said. “(He’s) a guy that has good athleticism, that can run, can move around, and we wanted to give him an opportunity. He performed well in practice. As we always talk about, guys that are going to compete in practice, I can see exactly who starts. He did a good job and came out and did some good things in the game.”

–Wide receiver J.J. Nelson has only one reception through the team’s first four games and in Sunday’s loss to Seattle, he had a critical drop on a long deep pass from Josh Rosen. It was one of several crucial drops by Cardinals’ receivers, but it was the most glaring one.

“I’m not down on J.J. nor the other receivers,” head coach Steve Wilks said. “I think those guys are improving. J.J. is a major part, being able to take the top off, as we call it, with his speed. That’s a weapon that we like.”

Rosen definitely likes it.

“Everyone’s usually got at least one dude who will terrify you with his speed,” Rosen said. “That will create separation. If you get hot and hit a couple deep balls, it will open up a lot of other guys. Even just one-on-one, they’ll play way further off then they need to and if they come up, you can run by them. It offers a lot of variety in what you can do.”

–The Cardinals signed wide receiver Bernard Reedy and safety Darian Thompson to the practice squad and released safety Demetrious Cox and linebacker Nigel Harris from the practice squad.

Reedy (5-9, 175) appeared in 11 games last season with Tampa Bay and New England, mostly as a punt and kickoff returner. He entered the league with Atlanta in 2014 as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Toledo. Thompson (6-2, 211) started all 16 games last season for the Giants, finishing third on the team with 75 tackles. He was a third-round pick by the Giants in 2016 out of Boise State.

BY THE NUMBERS: 4 – Receptions needed by wide receiver Christian Kirk to join Anquan Boldin (33 in 2003) and Larry Fitzgerald (22 in 2004) as the only rookies in franchise history with 20 or more receptions through their first five career games.