NFC Notes: Cardinals, Falcons, Redskins

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Steve Wilks called the report that they may be open to trading All-Pro CB Patrick Peterson “ludicrous” following Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.

Peterson said he didn’t hear about the report until after the game.

“I was getting ready for a football game,” Peterson said, via AzCardinals.com. “This is my first time hearing about [trade rumors]. That’s something that’s out of my control. I want to continue doing what I have to do to help this team win ballgames. That’s what I can control, and that’s what I want to do each and every week.”

Peterson added that there was no special significance to him hugging GM Steve Keim before the game.

“That’s every week,” Peterson said. “We have a little, I won’t call it a ritual, but pretty much every game I go up to Steve and give him a big hug and just tell him that we’re definitely going out here to try to get a ‘W’ today.”

Falcons

• Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made attempts to hire Falcons president Rich McKay to oversee the NFL’s football operations.
• However, the move was ultimately by the league’s owners and part of their focus on curtailing spending in the league office.
• According to La Canfora, McKay was viewed as a top candidate for the job that was supposed to help reshape the football operations department under fire for their handling of “Bountygate”, “Deflategate” and the Ray Rice situation.
• Interestingly enough, La Canfora says that McKay is so highly thought of by Goodell that he was seen as someone who Goodell might champion as his possible replacement.
• Sources close to McKay have told La Canfora that he would have relished such a position at the league office, but it’s now considered a moot point.

Redskins

Redskins RB Adrian Peterson tells Pro Football Talk that he realized three or four carries into the game that his shoulder injury wasn’t going to get any better as the game went on.

“It’s going to be painful,” Peterson told himself. “I just need to fight through it. Every time I got hit I could feel it.”

Peterson added that he was “up at 3:00 and 5:00 every night” last week and had his wife digging into the shoulder with his knuckles and elbows.