Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald sat down with Arizona Republic reporter Kent Somers recently. He spoke of several things, but there were a couple of things that stood out.
He spoke of his frustration in terms of performance, as he had one of his least productive seasons in the NFL.
"I'm used to having success," he told Somers. "I work hard for it. So when it wasn't going my way, it was difficult at times."
Cardinals fans did see a glimpse of what could stillbe, as there was a stretch of games where he and Carson Palmer were able to put up solid numbers.
Fitz knows he still can do Fitz things.
"I can still play the game a high level, given the opportunity to go out there and thrive," he said.
Injuries played into his success and the success of the team. He suffered a pair of knee injuries and it was frustrating for him.
"It was fluke stuff, too," Fitzgerald said. "You work so hard to get yourself physically ready to go and you see it happen just that fast."
It affected him. Injuries got the Andre Ellington, Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton.
Those injuries showed how "fickle" the NFL can be. With both Palmer and Stanton going down, Fitzgerald described what happened as "the season kind of slid away" from the team. They started 9-1, but ended 2-6, including a playoff loss in which they set a record for the fewest yards gained in a game offensively.
Fitz is ready for the ride of 2015. Hopefully the fickle NFL can be a little less fickle in terms of injuries for the Cardinals this season. Each of the past two seasons, Fitzgerald has been hampered by injuries. In 2013, it was his hamstrings. In 2014, it was his knee. If he and Palmer can stay healthy, we might not see a season from Fitz like he had in his prime, but there is no reason why he can't gain more than 1000 or 1100 yards.