Cards' Fitzgerald catching fewer passes

LARRY FITZGERALD is 31 years old now, but the Eagles said this week that isn't why Fitzgerald has only 23 catches for 283 yards through six games - putting the Arizona Cardinals' star on a pace for the lowest totals of his 11-year NFL career.

"It's nothing to do with Larry not being Larry. It has to do with all the other weapons they've surrounded the quarterback with," Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis said this week. "The options are everywhere. The running back is getting a lot, Floyd is getting a lot . Young Brown has got some speed" and 17 catches for 197 yards. "Larry's still Larry."

Fitzgerald has scored a touchdown in every one of the six games he has played against the Eagles; he has 10 against them all-time, including a 43-yarder last year when the Eagles defeated the visiting Cards, 24-21.

On a conference call with Philadelphia-area reporters this week, Fitzgerald didn't exactly endorse the idea of giving him the ball less, but he didn't lament it, either.

"I don't really do too much thinking about it. It's out of my hands. I just make sure I'm accountable to my teammates every day, work hard, do what I'm asked to do," he said.

Fitzgerald agreed that this year's Cardinals receivers are a "really talented group."

Cards coach Bruce Arians said this week in a conference call that not having to try to force the ball to Fitzgerald so much is a big part of how quarterback Carson Palmer has just one interception this season , after being picked off 22 times a year ago.

"Carson was going to get the ball to Larry, whether it be double-coverage or not," Arians said. "Now he trusts all the rest of the guys. I think we built that trust throughout the season last year, whoever's open, get him the football."

Arians said Fitzgerald has "handled it beautifully . . . winning cures everything."

Fitzgerald's father, Larry Sr., handled it less beautifully after the season opener, a victory over San Diego in which Larry Jr. caught just one pass. Larry Sr. tweeted that "the world saw on Monday Night Football the politics and business of football." Larry Jr. had to tweet the next day that "my father's inflammatory comments don't reflect my feelings or mood."

"You guys all have fathers. You understand," Fitzgerald said on the conference call this week.

On Tuesday, it seemed likely running back Darren Sproles (knee) and inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks (calf) would play Sunday at Arizona. But as the week of practice unfolded, they remained limited participants, Kendricks unavailable to reporters, Sproles not talking after saying on Tuesday that he felt he probably would be able to play with his MCL sprain. But Sproles also said Tuesday that he wanted to get in a real, full practice, and it would seem he has not been able to do that.

"Mychal has been running around. Kind of watching him get acclimated back into drills and get into the team settings," Chip Kelly said before yesterday's practice. "We've still got three more training sessions to kind of figure out how much he can contribute or can he contribute."

Running back Chris Polk, a full participant Wednesday and yesterday with his healing hamstring, might end up as LeSean McCoy's backup in Arizona, with Jeremy Maclin fielding punts.

Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles has gotten a lot of praise for maintaining a solid unit - only the Broncos have scored more than 20 points on the Cardinals this season - despite being without several key starters. Eagles fans might remember Bowles, not just as a Temple star under Bruce Arians in the 1980s, but as the secondary coach who took over the Eagles' defense when Juan Castillo was fired during the 2012 bye week, and somehow found a way to make it worse.

Of course, Bowles was in an impossible situation, with players he hadn't picked, running a flawed system, behind Jim Washburn's wide-nine. Bear in mind that Bill Davis was not successful in his 2 years as Ken Whisenhunt's defensive coordinator in Arizona; Cards fans no doubt view Davis much differently than Eagles fans view him.

Eagles corner Brandon Boykin, a rookie on that 4-12 team of 2 years ago, said despite the chaos, he learned a lot from Bowles.

"Me coming in really as an athlete who was capable of making plays, he kind of molded me into a guy who was more about technique. That's stuck with me, even after he left," Boykin said. "I'm going to be excited to see him."

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian