It’s no secret the Arizona Cardinals roster is decidedly young. So young that there are only five players 30 years or older and that includes kicker Matt Prater (40 on Aug. 10) and long snapper Aaron Brewer, who turned 34 on July 5.
The other three are tackle Kelvin Beachum (35 on June 8), wide receiver Chris Moore (31 on June 16) and linebacker Dennis Gardeck, who reaches 30 on Aug. 9.
Asked if he realized there were only three scrimmage players on the team that are at least 30, Beachum said laughing, “I didn’t realize that. I don’t think I wanted to know that.”
With Paris Johnson Jr. and Jonah Williams set to be the starting tackles, Beachum is valuable as a guy that can play either side at a moment’s notice and does it at the veteran minimum salary of $1.21 million (non-guaranteed) plus $20,000 per-game active roster bonuses.
He also brings a lot of value as a leader and someone that head coach Jonathan Gannon leans on for advice.
“He’s very comfortable with his role,” Gannon said. “Obviously, he wants to play, but he understands his role on the team and he helps me a lot. He’s one of the sounding boards for me. An older vet that’s been through a lot of different ways to do things. Typically, if I change something and I think it’s for the betterment of the players, I’ll ask. Have him co-sign off and sometimes he brings up a point of view that I didn’t think about. And maybe do something a little bit different.
“But I value his experience and his opinion. He’s a team-first guy. You know he has the best interest of the team at heart when you ask him questions.”
Asked how and when that relationship developed after Gannon became head coach last year, he said, “What is he in 13 years now? He’s played a lot of football. He’s seen a lot, been through a lot. So just talking to him. Some guys aren’t accepting of that role and maybe they go to another team or they hang it up.
“But he knows that he’s got to be ready to go in and play immediately so he prepares like he’s the starter, he competes like he’s competing as the starter. That’s what I love about him.”
Meanwhile, when Beachum was asked about being one of the team’s elder statesmen, he said (laughing again), “My age plays a role in things, but at the same time, it’s good to be in a locker room where you see such exuberance, you see such passion for the game. I haven’t lost mine, but it’s always good to see a younger injection of that passion.”
One of those is 22-year-old (on Aug. 11) wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
Describing Harrison, Beachum said, “Quiet. Quiet as a church mouse. But he gets his work done. He goes out and preps before practice. You see him after practice catching balls. He handles his business like a pro. Got a lot of respect for that. Everybody’s still getting to know each other. Still in the relationship building phase. We haven’t went through anything yet. But from what I can tell, he handles his business like a pro.”
When asked about potentially getting Harrison out of his shell, Beachum said, “You don’t need to. Let him play. Let him play. Let him do what he needs to do.”
Which is just what Beachum does on a daily basis.
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