TEMPE, Ariz. -- Cardinals coach Bruce Arians on Monday said there was no change in quarterback Carson Palmer's status and the team will take the normal approach this week as it waits to see whether the bruised nerve in Palmer's right shoulder will heal and start firing enough to allow him to play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
"If he can go, he can go," Arians said. "This is one of those crazy things where you could wake up one day and you could be fine. We don't know what day that will be though. We'll just see how it goes."
The schedule creates a dilemma for the Cardinals. Obviously, they'd like to have Palmer in the lineup when a bitter division rival comes to town. A win over San Francisco on Sunday would give the Cardinals a two-game lead on the 49ers just three games into the season.
On the flip side, Arizona gets its bye week after the 49ers game so that would allow Palmer ample time to rest while a more mobile Drew Stanton makes his second straight start.
"Probably the last three or fours years, I've looked at every week the exact same ... I'm not going to deviate from that," Stanton said. "Carson's the starter. If he can't play then I have to step in. I'm not unlike any other backup on this team that when called upon is asked to answer the bell."
Arians said he always thought Palmer would play on Sunday at New York.
"I was still expecting Carson to jump up on the table with that cape on," he said. "He wanted to. He and I went out in the tunnel and tried to throw it and (the nerve) just wasn't going to fire so I just walked in told Drew he was up."
Arians said the only significant change in the game plan was allowing Stanton to pick his own first 15 plays and eliminate any plays with which he might feel uncomfortable.
"That's the nice thing about dealing with B.A. is he's going to give you a full gamut; you get to hone in on what you want," Stanton said. "When you break stuff down, third down, what you feel comfortable with, what you're anticipating, it can be completely different. That's the nice thing about B.A. He kind of tailors that to what you want."
Stanton admitted it was gratifying to execute after not starting a game for nearly four years.
"As everybody has documented, it's been about a thousand days since I stepped foot on a football field for real," he said. "It might not be seen every Sunday with what I'm doing, but I'm very confident in what I do and I feel like I have the respect of the guys on offense and hopefully earned a little bit more amongst all my teammates who might not have known me before."
Tyrann Mathieu hadn't seen game action in 280 days, so from that standpoint, Sunday's game in New York was a welcome change. But the five defensive snaps in which he participated weren't what he had in mind.
"I don't think you can really assess five snaps," he said.
When asked about Mathieu's limited involvement, here's what Arians said.
"I saw the quickness; I saw a couple things.
"He didn't play much. He was disappointed. I would like to see him play more, too, but he's not ready to play that much yet. I think his role should increase this week. We'll see what packages we have where we can put him in. And then with that open date (bye week after 49ers game) we can continue to progress.
"The guys that are playing where he was playing are playing pretty good, so until he can show that he's totally 100 percent ready to roll then I'm not taking those guys out."
Mathieu doesn't agree that he isn't 100 percent. When asked how far away he is from being the Tyrann Mathieu he likes to be, he said: "Right now.
"A lot of things factor into that; coaches and trainers and everybody just being on the same page. Hopefully I progress enough each and every week that my coaches feel more and more comfortable."
With only one week before the bye, it appears the Cardinals are gearing Mathieu up for a return to the starting lineup in Game 4 at Denver on Oct. 5.
Arians said running back Andre Ellington is still dealing with a lot of pain in his injured foot. Arians said last week there was a tear in the foot.
"It's uncomfortable but he's gutting it out pretty good," Arians said. "Hopefully he'll practice Thursday this week (while taking Wednesday off)."
Ellington had 91 yards on 15 carries against the Giants, along with one catch for 10 yards.
The furor over Larry Fitzgerald's involvement in the offense calmed for one week when he caught six passes for 51 yards in New York -- tops in both categories for the Cardinals.
NFL CHEERLEADERS GALLERY: WEEK 2 >>
But that may have been a product of backup Drew Stanton's first start in nearly four years. Aside from Fitzgerald, Stanton completed just four balls to other receivers (three to John Brown; one to Michael Floyd) and the Cardinals didn't take as many deep shots without Carson Palmer in the game. Stanton only completed eight balls to anyone other than Fitzgerald and three of those went to tight ends John Carlson (two) and Troy Niklas (one). The other went to Ellington.
Fitzgerald's involvement will still bear watching all season.
-- Arians said Sunday was probably the worst game he's ever seen cornerback Patrick Peterson play since he got here. Peterson was beaten in coverage and whistled for multiple flags. "He got frustrated and let the referees get to him," Arians said. "There was a lot holding on both sides; we were as guilty as they were. The referees did a heck of a job."
-- Stanton was one of three former Michigan State QBs to post NFL wins this week. Cleveland's Brian Hoyer and Washington's Kirk Cousins were the others.
-- Chandler Catanzaro has made his first six field goals attempts, the longest rookie streak to open a season in franchise history.
-- Arians was disappointed in the Cardinals' red-zone efficiency (1-4) in New York.
-- Arians gave game balls to Calais Campbell, Ted Ginn, Kenny Demens, Ellington and Stanton.
Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter
