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What They’re Saying: Cardinals Gear Up for Patriots

He gets it out of his hand fast.

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The schedule also sets up well for early success to provide any confidence boost Palmer needs.

The time crunch has been so demanding that the 24-year-old hasn’t even had time to call his parents this week amid his unusual opportunity.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder will have plenty of weapons at his disposal Sunday, though he may be missing a key one (more on that later).

Wide receiver Danny Amendola didn’t see any preseason action, and was limited during training camp as he recovered from knee and ankle issues. Judging by how well Brady has used Rob Gronkowski over the past seasons, the addition of the 6-foot-6-inch tight end will only make the Patriots offense more unsafe. Like Denver did past year in the playoff game.

The Cardinals prepared for a healthy Gronkowski. “I use all these different situations in my life as learning experiences and I’ve certainly learned a lot about myself, about my support system, about the people that care about me, my teammates, my friendships. And if Jimmy can be the quarterback of the New England Patriots, whether it’s a year from now or two or three, then I think that’s something that can be enticing”.

That being said, it will be interesting to see what ends up happening on the Cardinals’ side of things.

Bill Belichick and company would obviously love to have Brady available, but Garoppolo is in a good position to succeed. “Naturally, it kind of happens on its own, but you want to go in there and let the guys know that you’re here to work and here to do your job the right way”.

Arians said the same of Belichick’s Patriots.

“They have a philosophy and a plan that they follow”, Arians said. “Coach told me I’m not playing, so I’m not playing”.

When asked Wednesday if he thought Brady was guilty of masterminding a scheme to deflate footballs to his liking, Palmer said, “I don’t know, to be honest”. Patriots linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins, will have to contain Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer off the snap throughout this game.

“I hope not”, Brady said as he laughed. Cooper will start at right guard for the Patriots.

After watching Garoppolo, Arizona head coach Bruce Arians said the inexperienced quarterback reminded him of a young Tony Romo. But both men figure to play big roles in how this game turns out.

Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are the first rookies to start the opener at quarterback-running back for the Cowboys since Roger Staubach and Calvin Hill in 1969.

The others are Tim Brown, Gale Sayers and Maurice Jones-Drew.

FILE – In this September 1, 2016, file photo, Arizona Cardinals free safety Tyrann Mathieu warms up prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Denver Broncos in Glendale, Ariz.

Bennett shows flashes of excellence this preseason, but in the opener, we’ll get a full glimpse of what he’s fully capable of in this offense.

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Expect the Cardinals to mix up the coverage schemes and give Williams some help.

Mike Petraglia, Chris Price talk Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom Brady shadow