Marvin Harrison Jr.’s Arizona Cardinals camp didn’t exactly open with a victory lap. The early drops were loud enough to spread fast, and for a stretch, the clips seemed to be everywhere.
But that rough first impression hasn’t defined his training camp. According to new head coach and offensive play-caller Mike LaFleur, Harrison has settled in and started stacking better days.
“Steady improvement,” LaFleur said of Harrison’s overall camp before diving into the prior drops.
“You could go very elementary, and it's like 'catch the football, never drop a ball.' Well, if you drop enough balls in this league, I don't care who you are, you're just not going to be in the league.
So it's like, 'no kidding, put that away. Okay, why'd you drop it?
Was it focus? What exactly was it?'
All right, then you put that away, and then you really look at the process of everything. Are we creating separation?
Are we coming off the ball? Like, are we in our right split?
Are we are we loaded? Getting every inch of grass off the ball.
“That's one of the big things that Marv and I talk about every day. I just kind of give him one of these [leans], and what does that mean?
Body lean, come off the rock, because once he gets going, he's a big dude, right? And if I'm a DB standing there, knowing I got a big dude that could run by me or can stop on a dime, that's tough.
“... Yes, he had a drop back in whatever it was, practice five, where he was wide open.
Hasn't had one of those since. Great.
Is he going to have probably another one at some point over his career? Yes, he is.
Just like all these guys are. Then I'll flip it to the other side.
What does it look like when he doesn't have the ball? What does it look like when he's getting connected?
And [when] I say he, I mean all these guys. If you don't block, if you don't get sticky on DB's in this offense, you're just not going to be out there.
Like, point blank period. I've been pleased with his progression and the receivers' progression in that facet of what we're trying to get done in the run game.”
After that shaky opening stretch, Harrison reportedly looked open as often as anyone on the field. The problem was never really getting separation. Once the early drops were behind him, he started flipping the script and making the plays when the ball came his way.
Arizona is going to need that version of Harrison if the offense is going to get moving. He has the physical tools to be a true No. 1 option in the NFL; the challenge is turning that into consistent production.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett believes Harrison is taking the right approach.
“I think he's taken tremendous steps as far as understanding this is a long process,” Brissett told reporters.
“The end result is not going to be tomorrow, and that's a battle. That's a battle for him, me, everybody on the team.
The hard part is you want the results now. You want to go out there and do everything the right way, but that's why we're in the room that we're in, and and we have the opportunity to go out there and play in the National Football League because we know we can.
It's just a matter of, now you got to sustain that competitive edge on a day in and day out process.”
The Cardinals also have some built-in support around him. LaFleur’s offense has already shown it can create openings, and with Michael Wilson, Trey McBride and Jeremiyah Love among the options around him, Harrison doesn’t have to carry the whole thing alone.
That matters. This isn’t built to be a one-man show, and it doesn’t need to be. For Harrison, the encouraging part is simple: after a rough start, he has answered back.
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