TEMPE, Ariz. -- Larry Fitzgerald addressed the media on Thursday -- the first time he's done so since his Twitter flap with his father. His message was both humorous and clear.
"It's hard to make news with one catch," he said. "My dad seemed to find a way to make it.
"What comes from my mouth comes from my mouth. What comes from other people's mouths comes from their mouths. If you don't hear it from the horse's mouth, then it's not accurate."
Fitzgerald caught just one pass in Arizona's season-opening 18-17 win over the San Diego Chargers on Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Following the game, Larry Fitzgerald Sr. posted three tweets in succession, questioning the Cardinals' motives for targeting his son just four times and limiting his role in the offense.
This isn't exactly new behavior for Fitzgerald Sr., or Fitzgerald's brother, Marcus, who infamously criticized former Cardinals QB Kurt Warner for not being able to get Fitz the ball in a game. Both men have displayed a lack of tact in the past, putting the Arizona receiver in an awkward position.
"It's not my first time, and I would assume it probably won't be my last," Larry Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said he decided to respond to his father Tuesday on Twitter for the sake of team harmony.
"I didn't want my teammates thinking that was my concern. I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that I was fully committed to doing what we need to do to win."
Fitzgerald has always remained above this fray. He always says the right thing and puts team needs above his own. He very carefully crafts his public image; a smart move in today's media-saturated world.
On the other hand, it would be naive to think that the father and brother do not possess some sort of insight into what their son/brother is thinking.
There is no way Fitzgerald is content to catch one ball per game, play the slot receiver and go quietly into the night -- perhaps as soon as next season if the Cardinals actually believe he has lost a step and are indeed phasing him out of their offense ahead of that $23.6-million cap hit in 2015.
Coach Bruce Arians insisted that Fitzgerald's involvement was a product of Monday's game.
"The defense dictates where the ball goes," Arians said. "Certain guys want numbers. I think Larry would be the first one to tell you the only number that matters is W -- that's a letter though."
Arians said he didn't even know if Fitzgerald would play on Monday because he had a knee injury that was listed on the injury report all week (Fiztgerald declined comment on the knee). Arians also said the knee was the reason Fitzgerald wasn't in on some third-down situations.
But Fitzgerald was listed as having practiced in full all of last week. As for Arians' assertion that the days of targeting players are long gone, it seems a bit disingenuous since the Cardinals were trying to get Andre Ellington the ball (18 touches) and on most plays, there is a primary read and secondary reads.
When asked if he knows ahead of game time whether he's going to be targeted, Fitzgerald answered the question before it was finished.
"You definitely know," he said. "You know every week what's going on."
If you watch the tape of the game, QB Carson Palmer rarely looks in Fitzgerald's direction first. In fact, Palmer rarely looks at Fitzgerald at all during the game.
So are the Cardinals phasing Fitz out of the offense? It will take more games to get a better read on that. But there is at least one person who hopes it's true.
"I love it," said former teammate Antrel Rolle, who plays safety for the Giants, this week's opponent. "Larry Fitzgerald is definitely one of the better receivers in this league; a great friend of mine. I witnessed his greatness at work for five years over there in Arizona, and I've continued to witness it as I've been a Giant.
"He's a phenomenal talent, he's an outstanding guy and he's a huge play-maker, so if he catches one pass (against us), that would be all right with me."
Fitzgerald laughed when told of Rolle's comments, and then he ended the interview session with more humor.
"I don't want to go one catch every game for 16 weeks," he said. "That would be discouraging. That cap number would be REAL big at the end of the year."
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