After praising them in spring, Bruce Arians has soured on Cardinals receiving corps

Bruce Arians continues to be our favorite NFL head coach, at least in the “you never know what he’ll say next” category.

On Monday, Arians ripped his Arizona Cardinals receivers after a bad practice, saying the bulk of the players on offense looked “very lethargic.”

And much of his ire was directed at the receivers.

“I must have been seeing things back in the spring when I said we had 12 guys [receivers] that can play in the NFL. I think we might have two,” Arians said, running a hand over his silver goatee. “But we’ll look around, see who’s available.

“The defense came out ready to practice, Carson (Palmer) came out ready to practice, the guys around him didn’t help him very much. But we’ll judge the tape, and…can’t criticize them too much without watching the film.

“It’s not effort. It’s assignments, catching the ball, the main things receivers have to do. They’re not doing it.”

Here’s a clip of some of Arians’ comments:

Arians was also asked about John Brown, the fourth-year receiver who has dealt with several health and injury issues. Brown is currently missing time because of a quad injury.

“It’s a concern. He’s not available. You’re only as good as when you’re available,” Arians said.

[Now’s the time to sign up for Fantasy Football! Join for free]

The receivers had been warned by Arians, and J.J. Nelson, a part-time starter last year who is entering his third season, said they got the message loud and clear: “We’re not playing up to our abilities so we’ve just got to continue to get better. We’ve still got two or three more week, two or three more preseason games, so there’s still a lot of film to be made out there on the field.”

In May, during the Cardinals’ spring camps, Arians had gushed about his wideouts, saying, “I’ve never been around a wide receiver group of 12 that are of NFL quality. Every one of these guys, they can all make a team.”