New Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said he will adjust his system to the abilities of whoever winds up being the team’s quarterback.


He also said he has reached out to Larry Fitzgerald and talked to the wide receiver – who ranks third all-time in NFL receptions – about the offense McCoy will bring.

Fitzgerald hasn’t publicly said he is returning for a 15th pro season but McCoy sure sounded like the receiver is a big part of the plans for the inaugural year under new Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks.

”It was great to talk to him Youth Jaden Schwartz Jersey ,” McCoy said at an introductory news conference Monday. ”He’s excited.”

McCoy, who served four seasons as head coach at San Diego, inherits an offense that has no quarterback on its roster. General manager Steve Keim and Cardinals President Michael Bidwill said they will be aggressive in finding one – or more – through free agency, trades and the draft.

”It’s a great challenge,” McCoy said, ”I’m excited for it, come in here and figure out who that quarterback’s going to be and build the system around those players that we have here.”

The Cardinals were left without a quarterback when Carson Palmer announced his retirement, one day after head coach Bruce Arians also retired.

McCoy repeatedly said he would build the offense around the abilities of the players.

”The key thing I think as a coach and as the offensive coordinator is to find out what our players do best,” he said, ”and we’ll adjust accordingly.”

McCoy said he wants a quarterback ”that’s going to win a lot of games.”

”That’s one thing you always look at when you evaluate the quarterback position is his win-loss record or does he make a team better,” he said. ”There are certain quarterbacks that are great quarterbacks, but aren’t on very good teams.”

The quarterback needs to be a leader and be tough.

”It’s all about winning,” McCoy said. ”We want to get a guy that’s going to win a lot of games for us and be a leader, because they’re all different shapes and sizes. That doesn’t matter to me.”

Wilks, who was defensive coordinator at Carolina last season after five years as the Panthers’ secondary coach, said he felt a connection during the offensive coordinator’s job interview.

”I think it’s important that you have a coach that understands the vast range of players that he may have to coach,” Wilks said, ”and most importantly understanding that we may teach a certain way but we have to communicate with these guys differently based off their talent level Jake Allen Jersey , the number of years they may have been in the league, whatever.”

McCoy was offensive coordinator in Denver from 2009 through 2012. He interviewed for the vacant Cardinals head coaching position in 2013 before taking the Chargers job. McCoy was fired by the Chargers after the 2016 season and spent last year as offensive coordinator with the Broncos again.

He will inherit one of the league’s best running backs in David Johnson, who broke his wrist in the opener and missed the rest of last season. Johnson led the NFL in yards from scrimmage and touchdowns in 2016.

McCoy said Fitzgerald reminded him that Johnson is more than a ball carrier.

”It’s not just going to be running it with him,” McCoy said. ”When I talked to Larry the other day I made a comment and he said, `Coach, hold on now, this guy can run some routes for us, too, so let’s make sure we take advantage of that.”’

Wilks’ entire coaching background is on defense but McCoy said the two of them will always be in close communication, especially during games.

New defensive coordinator Al Holcomb and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers are to meet with the media Tuesday.

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AP NFL website:

The Detroit Tigers recovered quickly from the loss of their biggest star. They now have a chance to collect a series win over a key division rival.

The Tigers rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Wednesday night. Detroit was playing its first game since learning Miguel Cabrera would miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured biceps tendon.

“We talked about it beforehand,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Miggy’s down, we lost a tough one last night but the one thing this ballclub has done to this point is always bounce back. They always come back with fight and they did it tonight.”

The Tigers will rely on a younger, unheralded group of players to carry them the rest of the way. John Hicks, who replaced Cabrera at first base, had three hits Wednesday. So did utilityman Niko Goodrum. Victor Reyes, a Rule 5 draftee who has played sparingly, knocked in the go-ahead run.

“That’s when a team is rolling,” right fielder Nicholas Castellanos said. “Flip a coin. Everybody’s picking up the slack Joel Edmundson Jersey , everybody’s doing their part. Even when I don’t come through, Candy (Jeimer Candelario) doesn’t come through or (Leonys) Martin doesn’t come through, that’s OK because we know the guy behind us is going to step up and do it.”

Michael Fulmer will oppose Lance Lynn in the finale of the three-game series Thursday afternoon.

Fulmer (2-5, 4.40 ERA) got a no-decision in his last start but it was one of his most powerful performances this season. He held Cleveland to one run on five hits in seven innings while recording seven strikeouts Friday.

He threw 71 fastballs between 95 and 99 mph that evening.

“I finally felt like I was back to my old self a little bit,” Fulmer told the Detroit News afterward. “My fastball was coming out good. My change-up and slider were there. Now I have to keep doing what I’ve been doing, keep getting better.”

He’s given the Twins fits in his three major league seasons. Fulmer has won all of his four career stats against them while posting a 3.04 ERA. He’s struck out 23 in 23 2/3 innings in those outings.

Lynn (4-4, 5.08 ERA) has settled into a groove after a slow start. He’s won three of his last four outings, including a six-inning stint Friday when he held the Los Angeles Angels to one run on four hits in a no-decision.

“It’s getting there,” Lynn told mlb.com afterward. “Had the one inning (in the second) where I gave up the run, threw a bunch of pitches, which cost me the ability to go deeper into the game. But overall, my stuff was good.”

That quality stretch began with his best performance of the season, when he held the Tigers scoreless for 6 2/3 innings on May 22.

In three career starts against Detroit, Lynn is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA.

Following Thursday’s matinee, Minnesota heads to Cleveland for a three-game series while Detroit begins an eight-game road trip against the Chicago White Sox.