Cardinals cornerback and punt returner Patrick Peterson has shown that he’s a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands. So new Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has a good idea: Get the ball into Peterson’s hands more often.
Peterson played a little bit of offense in his first two NFL seasons, running the ball three times and catching four passes. But this year, Arizona plans to give Peterson a more substantial role offensively.
Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer told the team’s website that there’s a “pretty big package” of plays for Peterson on offense. In today’s practice that included not only Peterson catching a deep ball from Palmer, but also Peterson throwing a pass to Larry Fitzgerald. Palmer believes Peterson could be a very good offensive player.
Cornerback will remain Peterson’s primary job, and returning punts will probably still be Peterson’s second priority. But don’t be surprised if Peterson is getting a lot of work on his third priority, helping out the Cardinals’ offense.