For Cardinals' DC Vance Joseph, his homecoming to Denver is all about just getting a win
Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will be coaching a regular-season game against the Broncos in Denver on Sunday for the first time since that franchise fired him after two seasons (2017-18) and no, he said, he doesn’t have any payback on his mind.
“I don’t have a lot of feelings about it,” Joseph said after Thursday’s walk-through practice. “It’s the next game for the Cardinals. My focus is simply playing good defense and trying to get a win. It’s been a long month for us and winning is our focal point right now. That’s my only focus.”
Considering the Cardinals (4-9) have lost three games in a row and seven of their last nine overall, Arizona needs a win in the worst of ways given all the bad news that keeps happening to this franchise.
Just when you thought the pinnacle of the misery was losing starting quarterback Kyler Murray to a torn ACL on Monday night, it was learned up-and-coming defensive end Zach Allen required surgery for an injured hand will miss at least one to two weeks. And on Wednesday, news broke that General Manager Steve Keim was taking an indefinite leave of absence for health-related reasons.
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Thursday that there is “no timetable for his return,” adding of Keim, “It remains to be seen when he will be back with the team. The future is certainly in doubt there (and) up in the air. I would say we’ll see when and if he ends up coming back.”
How much would a victory over the Broncos (3-10) help?
“Yeah, that’s huge for this team,” Joseph said. “The work has been put in and it’s been close obviously, but it hasn’t worked out for us. But yes, winning is everything in this league. The players are working, and they want results. So do the coaches. Absolutely, winning is important and we need one.”
What Joseph doesn’t need is anyone throwing him a pity party for his short tenure as head coach of the Broncos. His teams went 5-11 and 6-10 and he swears he doesn’t hold a grudge about his firing. In fact, he said he’s over the whole thing.
“I am. I’m over it. It was never a sore spot,” Joseph said. “That’s a great opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. It didn’t work out, but I wasn’t the first guy, and I won’t be the last. There were never any ill feelings. It was just a job, and it didn’t get done and you move on.
“For me, I don’t relive it at all. It was a great experience. We had great people and great players to work with there and it was a great experience, and I enjoyed my moments there. I grew up there basically from college (at the University of Colorado) to being a young adult so for me it was home. I have no sore spots there at all.”
Joseph had a solid defense during his two seasons with the Broncos, but what he didn’t have was a franchise quarterback. He was asked to win with Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch his first year, then Case Keenum his second year.
How would he have faired in Denver with a better QB?
“Wow. I’m assuming I would have won some games,” Joseph said, grinning. “Defensively, it was right. But yeah, that’s been stated numerous times but again, that wasn’t the case. It was a fast two years in Denver, and I can’t say it wasn’t warranted. We didn’t win. They wanted a change, and I was the guy to change. That’s part of being a head coach.”
Joseph, 50, has found a new home in Arizona during his four seasons in charge of the Cardinals’ defense. He and his family love living in the Valley and even through there have been ups and downs on the football field, Joseph still finds his victories in watching players develop and turn into real professionals.
“When you draft these young guys and watch them grow and get better and better and become Pro Bowlers and have great careers and make money, it’s fun for a coach,” he said. “For me, it’s my new home. It’s a place my family loves to live, that’s first off, and the football part has been right for me.
“The goal is to win championships and that hasn’t happened yet, but hopefully that happens in the near future. But it’s been a great spot for my family and myself.”
The bad part has been watching so many players on both sides of the ball get hurt and become lost for the rest of the season. Most of the injuries have occurred on offense, but Joseph has lost his share, too, from nose tackle Rashard Lawrence to defensive end Zach Allen and cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.
“That’s part of it,” Joseph said. “Every team has injuries in this league and it’s last in the season. You have guys you train, who are backups, and you trust, and that’s what it comes down to – having guys who you can trust.”
The Cardinals have had three takeaways overturned in the past two games and for Joseph, that still stings almost as much as anything. He was asked if he’s ever been on a team that has experienced that situation.
“I have not. I have not,” he said. “It’s been rough. Poor Zaven Collins and (J.J.) Watt. I mean, that’s three touchdowns that have been called back in the last month. I haven’t seen that in an NFL season but it's our turn, I guess, right?”
Asked for his reaction to the news concerning Keim, Joseph said, “I have no reaction. There’s been a statement out by our team. … Obviously, Steve’s a friend of mine and I feel for Steve, and I wish him luck.”
He’s expressing similar wishes to Deion Sanders, who was recently hired to be the head coach at Joseph’s alma mater.
“I love the hiring. I really do,” he said. “That program’s been kind of not relevant in about 10 years so hiring Prime, to me, was a great hire. He’s coached football so it was not a strange hire. He’s coached football and he’s won games. His personality and his namesake and being a Hall of Famer, that’s going to draw guys in. That’s going to keep recruits home and that’s going to pull guys from Florida and Louisiana and California and that’s a beautiful place to go to school.”
Injury report
Wide receiver Marquise Brown (illness) and cornerback Antonio Hamilton (back) were new additions to the injury report on Thursday and neither player participated in the team’s walk-through practice. Murphy (back) also did not practice.
Listed as limited were quarterback Colt McCoy (neck), guards Rashaad Coward (chest) and Lecitus Smith (ankle), safety Charles Washington (chest) and cornerback Marco Wilson (neck).
For the Broncos, defensive end Dre’Mont Jones (hip) and receivers Courtland Sutton (hamstring) and Kendall Hinton (hamstring) did not practice. Six players were limited, including quarterback Russell Wilson (concussion). The others were linebacker Dakota Allen (hamstring), fullback/tight end Andrew Beck (hamstring), kicker Brandon McManus (quad), guard Dalton Risner (shoulder) and cornerback K’Waun Williams (wrist/knee).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: For Cardinals DC Vance Joseph, playing former team is just business
