Cardinals Mailbag: Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Slow Start Explained

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals are hoping to handle business in their Week 4 battle against the New York Giants.

We made this week's mailbag quick and easy. Thanks for your questions!

What’s your personal take on how MHJ's start to the season's been? And what’s your read on what the organization thinks of him in year 3? - StephenbSmith

Stephen, Harrison's slow start to the season is rightfully a talking point at this moment in time. He's largely been underwhelming, but the real question is why?

Quite frankly, it takes two to tango. The Cardinals haven't made Harrison a priority in terms of the offense's pecking order while there's several instances on film where Harrison looks uninterested and/or knows he's not getting the ball.

The truth, for me, rests in the middle. Arizona has McBride and Wilson placed higher on their priority list. I think that's more so telling on how high they are on the aforementioned weapons than what they actually think of Harrison.

On that note, I don't think the Cardinals view him as a top option. If he was, there would be more of an effort to get him the ball like McBride — but the problem is Harrison isn't comparable to McBride in any aspect, and when it comes to feeding Harrison vs. trying to do what's best for the offense, the Cardinals will always opt for the latter.

What's the vibe around the building?? Any truth to Nick Rallis play calling duties getting taken away and given to Teryl Austin? - Kyle

The Cardinals view this weekend as a big opportunity to get back on track. We broke this down a little bit here, though the Giants present one of their more realistic chances to win early in their schedule. That's something they need to take advantage of.

After dropping back to back weeks to NFC West opponents, vibes are still high. It's early in the season and if the Cardinals can climb to 2-2, that'd be seen as a win given their circumstances.

As far as the Teryl Austin question, I haven't personally seen or heard that. That'd be surprising this early in the season, though I do think Austin's presence on the staff is a clear pathway for the Cardinals to part ways with Rallis (if needed) with a stand-in, experienced coordinator ready.

How far away is Tip Reiman? - Jace

Jace, that's an excellent question.

Mike LaFleur gave a very interesting answer to this exact question on Friday:

"I can't speak on that right now. I mean, I know he's doing well, but it's not like I check in on the daily. I mean, I just kind of leave it up to Tip and the medical team, and then when it gets close, I know I'll have more information," he said.

That sounds like a player who either isn't close or the Cardinals are wanting to keep it under wraps.

For what it's worth, LaFleur spoke way earlier in the summer and believed Reiman would have been ready for training camp.

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