Cardinals rookie tight end Ricky Seals-Jones continues turning heads upon getting his shot

If things get any better for Ricky Seals-Jones, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s had about the best two weeks a young NFL player could imagine.

Two weeks ago, the Cardinals' rookie tight end returned to his home area of Houston and caught not only his first three NFL passes of his career for 54 yards, but his first two touchdowns in a loss to the Texans.

This past Sunday, he caught four more passes for 72 yards and another touchdown during Arizona’s 27-24 victory over the Jaguars. He becomes just the third rookie tight end in franchise history with at least three touchdown receptions in a season, joining Rob Awalt (six in 1987) and Doug Marsh (four in 1980).

And then on Wednesday, Seals-Jones was granted a personal day and excused from practice so he could fly back home to Texas to be present for the birth of his first child, a son.

“Oh man, he’s enjoying it right now, let me tell you,” Seals-Jones’ cousin, Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, said Wednesday by phone. “Before that Houston game, I told him, ‘Be ready, I feel you’re going to get a touchdown.’ I said, ‘Just be ready because they’ve never seen you before. You’re not on anybody’s radar.’

“When I saw he scored twice, oh man, I was so excited, I can’t even tell you.”

So was Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, although he will tell you he knew the potential was there all along in the 6-foot-5, 243-pound former wide receiver out of Texas A&M who went undrafted earlier this year. Sensing Seals-Jones would have better chance to make the team and eventually be able to contribute, Arians and the coaching staff converted the first-year pro to tight end.

“Some of those guys, whether it’s a basketball player or a receiver who’s gotten bigger, they don’t really like to stick their face on a 280-pound guy,” Arians said. “He has not been afraid in the least to do that, and as he gets stronger and bigger, he’ll get better at it.”

According to Dickerson, Seals-Jones was hesitant about moving to tight end, even though his famous older cousin said that’s the position he should have declared heading into the NFL combine. Dickerson said “Texas A&M didn’t use him right” as a wideout and that “they didn’t really develop him there.”

“I told him that before the draft, a couple months before he decided to come out, I told him he needed to change position to tight end,” Dickerson said. “He wasn’t sure about it, but I told him, ‘Let me tell you why. Because you’re going to be a mismatch to a safety or a linebacker because they can’t run with you.’

“He eventually came around, and I’m just glad he’s getting an opportunity to play and show what he could do. I knew he could be a really good tight end. … He’s made me look good. I really believed in him, and I’m so glad the Cardinals gave him that shot.”

For the first nine weeks of this season, Seals-Jones was relegated to scout-team duty in practice as he learned his new position and became more familiar with the playbook. But all that work alongside quarterback Blaine Gabbert helped form a unique chemistry and trust between the two players, and it’s paying off since both made their Cardinals debuts together.

“I think just the reps throughout the season when we were on scout team, going back to, really, training camp, getting reps with him, both trying to learn the system,” Gabbert said. “Then being on scout team the first eight, nine weeks of the season, just doing our best to emulate our offense, use our verbiage when we were doing that.

“He’s always been a great football player. Just seeing him translate the last two weeks in big-time games, it has been a lot of fun to watch.”

Even members of the Cardinals’ defense have to tip their caps to what they’ve seen out of Seals-Jones. Veteran safety Antoine Bethea, for instance, said he and some of the other defensive backs often remark to each other about how well the youngster is practicing and playing.

“Oh yeah, and we’re all happy for him,” Bethea said. “It’s a great story. He was a great wide receiver, comes here, not drafted, moves to tight end, and in the second half of the season, he’s making a name for himself. That’s what it’s all about, when you get your opportunity to go out there and make the most of it.

“We’ve all said, ‘Man, he has talent.’ There are some other guys on the scout team and practice squad that can go out there and play, too. For him to get his opportunity and get his chance to shine, man, I’m happy for him.”

Seals-Jones talked about his sudden popularity last week, saying he just had to keep his head down and work hard every day if he was going to get his shot.

“I knew when I got my name called, I was going to be ready, whether it was going to be the first game of the season or the last game of the season,” he said. “I just came in day-in and day-out and worked, and I was just waiting on it.”

He said the game has slowed down for him lately, which has made all the difference. But he acknowledges he still has much to learn about being a tight end.

“Just to get out there and know that you can play with those guys, though, I feel extremely good about it,” Seals-Jones said.

His next opportunity to shine comes this Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium against the Rams, Dickerson’s old team. Dickerson remains insatiably loyal to the Rams, but he’s also one of Seals-Jones’ biggest fans. So for whom will Dickerson be cheering?

“You know me, I’m going to be honest and I’ll always be the same, no matter what,” Dickerson said. “I told him, ‘I want you to play well. I don’t care if you have two touchdowns, as long as we win.' I want my Rams to win. I’m sorry.

“Look, I want him to play well – even against the Rams. I do want us to win, though.”

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Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Wednesday night between 7-9 on Fox Sports 910-AM on The Freaks with Kenny and Crash.