Kent Somers

azcentral sports

Coach Bruce Arians didn't need to watch hours of video to know why the Cardinals rushed for 28 yards last week against the Rams, a season low.

"We got our ass whipped," he said a few minutes after the victory. "We couldn't block people."

The next morning, General Manager Steve Keim confirmed that during his weekly radio appearance, saying the three interior linemen were especially inconsistent.

It doesn't take an-out-of-the-tackle-box thinker to come up with a possible solution: play guard Jonathan Cooper, the seventh overall pick in 2013, the guy the Cardinals once compared with Hall of Fame guards Randall McDaniel and Larry Allen.

It's not going to happen soon. Maybe not at all in 2014.

"None," Arians said Sunday, when asked on the chances of Cooper starting this week against the Lions. It's a message he repeated on Wednesday.

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"If he was one of the best players, it'd be different. He hasn't shown that he's one of the best players."

That assessment is interesting on a couple of levels. First, Keim said a couple of weeks ago Cooper would see action sooner rather than later. While Cooper is playing more on special teams, he's participated in one offensive play in the past seven games.

Second, starting guards Ted Larsen and Paul Fanaika aren't Pro Bowl-caliber players. They're tough and smart but it's not as if Cooper is playing behind McDaniel and Allen.

What the Cardinals are doing with Cooper is unusual. First-round picks, much less one taken seventh overall, don't often stay below journeymen on the depth chart.

So, then, what is the problem with Cooper? Is he not as good as the Cardinals thought when they drafted him? Is it just the injuries that set him back — the broken fibula in 2013, a knee and toe this preseason? Is he too nice? Does he lack toughness?

"He's gotten a lot better than he was," Arians said, "and I think he has a great future as long as he continues to improve the way he's improving."

Making improvement during the season is hard when you're not playing, and Cooper has participated in only four offensive plays this season.

At most, there is one padded practice during the week, and as a backup guard, Cooper's main job in practice is to run the opponent's offense.

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Unless there's an injury, Cooper's role isn't likely to change. Most coaches, including Arians and offensive coordinator/line coach Harold Goodwin, are reluctant to make changes up front unless forced to.

Their reasons are understandable. The Cardinals have started the same five linemen every game, and they have pass-blocked well for most of the season.

"Here's where we're at," Goodwin said. "We've won eight games. Why panic? For what? We lost one game a couple weeks ago. We won last week's game.

"When the time comes, Coop has to be ready. The last thing you want to see as a coach, or I'm sure you guys want to see, is him go in there and fail. When the time comes to play, he better be ready. And he's getting there."

Now that Carson Palmer has been lost for the season, protecting Drew Stanton is the priority because going to a third quarterback likely would be disastrous.

But it doesn't make sense for Cooper not to play at all. A series or two late in a game would make sense, like against the Cowboys two weeks ago and the Rams last week.

That apparently is not going to happen, and Arians is not feeling any pressure from the front office to play Cooper sooner rather than later. On Monday, Keim said he leaves playing time decisions up to the coaches.

"It's my job to add players to the roster, help pick the players," he said. "It's not my job to tell Bruce Arians or Harold Goodwin who to play from a personnel standpoint. That's a decision those guys have to make, and if those guys think it's in our best interests to play the two guards we currently have out there right now, that's what I'm going to go with."