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    • Cardinals rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. looks for consistency after breakout
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    Cardinals rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. looks for consistency after breakout

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    That's exactly how Marvin Harrison Jr.'s visions went in April and August. Six catches. 111 meters. A touchdown. A victory. The Arizona Cardinals in first place. Because of this, they selected Harrison fourth overall.

    And yet, in Harrison's eyes, it wasn't satisfactory.

    “It feels good,” Harrison said. “But in this league, everyone shows flashes at some point. The best players do it week after week and show consistency. So that’s kind of where I’m at right now.”

    Harrison would know. He had his breakthrough in Week 2 with 130 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams. In the next five games, he totaled just 15 catches for 166 yards. For a month he was completely inert, an uninspired part of an uninspired temporary attack.

    The goal now is to make sure Sunday in Miami is reproducible. Harrison believes this is possible because he is “playing faster” than he did at the start of the season.

    “I make decisions quicker,” Harrison said. “I read the defense. That's also part of my preparation, my film study during the week to get an idea of ​​what the defense likes to do. If I allow myself to go out there and play fast, I think I’ve gotten better at that every week.”

    To this end, he referred to two games on Sunday. On his first reception of the game, he recognized Cover-2 and when a linebacker followed Michael Wilson through the play, he knew he would have an open pocket on the right side of the field.

    “I was under the (middle linebacker) and tried to just sit in the zone there on the distant crosser,” Harrison said.

    Later, on a key third-down reception, he quickly recognized man coverage, another area of ​​growth. That gave him a little clue as to how he should take his route to best help Kyler Murray. “I knew there was a man there,” Harrison said. “I had to open it quickly.”

    These are the moments of spiritual insight that come only through the study and practice of film.

    “These games are huge for a rookie and I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Murray said. “To have a game like that and be able to build on it is huge.”

    However, Harrison also admitted that he hadn't done anything different this week in particular. His development was not based on a single turning point or epiphany, but rather on the continuous progress made through the succession of positive weeks of practice. This week was just different because “I was just able to make more plays than before,” he said.

    And why did he think that was the case?

    “The playcalling, Kyler gave me chances to make plays, the defense we got,” Harrison said. “It takes not just me, but all ten other guys on the field for me to be successful as a player. So it’s not just me out there.”

    Cardinals open practice window for Jonah Williams

    When right tackle Jonah Williams collapsed to the turf with a knee injury late in the first quarter of Week 1, his season was in danger of ending. Williams' recovery was surprisingly quick, however, and by October it became clear to the Cardinals that he would likely return this year.

    On Wednesday, they took their first official step toward that goal, opening Williams' training window. Williams, who had limited participation in his first practice, must now be activated to the 53-man roster by Nov. 20 or he will be ineligible to return this season.

    After signing a two-year, $30 million free agency contract, Williams immediately impressed in Week 1. He helped guard Murray as the Cardinals scored on their first three drives.

    “It was a really fun 22 snaps,” Williams said. “I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed being part of the team and it was fun. … It would be disappointing at any point of the year, but I thought, Man, I'm sprinting out of the gate and then I fall after the first three steps.”

    Kelvin Beachum performed well in his place, allowing just nine pressures and three sacks in 223 pass-blocking snaps, but Williams' eventual return will be a boon for this offensive line. Head coach Jonathan Gannon didn't say when that would be, but it seems possible it could happen as soon as Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

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    Kathleen William
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