In the aftermath of the fabulous Hail Murray catch by DeAndre Hopkins (and the NFC award the wide receiver got), along with the Suns locally pulling off their own trade for a star in guard Chris Paul, Cardinals GM Steve Keim was asked Wednesday on the "Doug and Wolf" show on 98.7, Arizona's Sports Station, about the tension a GM feels when the trade has been agreed to but not yet finalized.
Keim said he knew the Cards were trading for Hopkins for "a month to a month-and-a-half" before the news broke.
"There were times, and (owner) Michael Bidwill and I were the only ones who knew, there were times he would come in my office and I would look at him and be like, 'Did we really just trade for DeAndre Hopkins?' " Keim said.
Not surprisingly, Keim was like everyone else when it came to his reaction to Hopkins' insane reception to beat the Bills.
"You're talking about being really upset and frustrated to, 'Wow, that just happened,' " Keim said.
-- Losing defensive tackle Corey Peters for the season will be felt, Keim acknowledged.
"He's a natural leader," Keim said. "There are different types of leaders, and he's not rehearsed. It comes from the heart."
-- Keim was asked if Patrick Peterson was still a shutdown cornerback.
"I think Pat P is a very good corner and it's sort of like a quarterback throwing interceptions," Keim said. "Sometimes you don't know whose fault it is. In Pat's case, there are times when he looks like he's beat or it looks like there's a blown coverage or maybe he's too far off the receiver, there are times, it could've been a zone, he should've had help, they were playing bracket, there are a number of things that go into that. The casual fan may (think) Pat Peterson got beat but he was actually playing the right coverage and was supposed to have help inside.
"I'm not saying there aren't plays all of us would like to have back, but there are other factors that play into it."
-- Keim praised OLB Haason Reddick and said there is an opportunity for the free-agent-to-be to return to the Cardinals next season. "He has hung in there and kept his attitude in the right place," Keim added.
-- Whether or not QB Kyler Murray might be in the MVP discussion is not at the forefront of Keim's thoughts right now.
"It would be really really cool to see Kyler get that award, but at the same time that's an individual award and right now we are really focused on team goals," Keim said.
-- At 6-3, Keim knows this is a huge game in Seattle Thursday night (although he wouldn't call it the biggest game of his tenure given that there have been other playoff pushes.)
"I think we do well handling adversity, which says a lot about the men in that locker room," Keim said. "What I don't have a feel for is how good we can be because I truly feel we have not even played close to our potential. ... Once we put that all together again, it could be scary."
