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Through his first six games this season, Jermaine Gresham totaled just six receptions for 59 yards and no touchdowns. In his past nine games, the Cardinals tight end has 31 catches for 331 yards and two touchdowns – almost double his totals from all of last season.

But it isn’t just Gresham’s production as a pass catcher that’s made coach Bruce Arians happy.

“Oh, it’s the passion, the amount of toughness,” Arians said Wednesday as the Cardinals returned to practice in preparation for Sunday’s season finale against the Los Angeles Rams.

Gresham is as miffed as anyone over the team’s 6-8-1 record, but poor results or not, he’s always going to play angry and with an edge.

“It’s a pride thing,” he said. “At the end of the day, as a man, it’s just pretty much a pride thing. You want to be respected by your peers and things like that, so that’s pretty much why I go out there and play.”

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Gresham was one of the team’s bigger leaders during last Saturday’s 34-31 victory at Seattle, and it’s that quality that likely will result in his re-signing with the club this offseason.

Gresham, who turned down better offers to return to the Cardinals this season, said he definitely wants to play for Arizona again in 2017. He said he believes the Cardinals remain legitimate contenders and can easily turn things around next year.

“Most definitely; I still have faith in this team,” he said. “More than anything, it was just a couple situational things that didn’t go our way and we didn’t play our best football, but that doesn’t have anything to do with how well we can play.”

Arians singled out Gresham’s blocking ability and how well the tight end fended off Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett in several one-on-one situations. To Gresham, delivering the perfect block is just as satisfying as catching a clutch first down from Carson Palmer.

“Whatever gets the win,” he said. “Whether that’s David (Johnson) taking the ball 40 yards on a run play and me having the key block, I’m going to do it. I want to be a winner. At the end of the day, I don’t want to be known for a loser, I want to be a winner and that’s pretty much it.”

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Gurley man

Of all the Los Angeles players adversely affected by the Rams’ poor season, nobody has probably felt worse or more disappointed than second-year running back Todd Gurley.

He’s clearly been hamstrung by the team’s lack of execution on offense and its inability to show consistency on the offensive line or at quarterback. The results have led directly to poor numbers for Gurley, who won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors a year ago after rushing for 1,106 yards on 229 attempts for a 4.8-yard average per carry and 10 touchdowns in just 13 games.

Through 15 games this season, Gurley has run for fewer yards (845) on more carries (264) and his touchdowns (six) are also down. It hasn’t been easy for him to keep his confidence up, said interim coach John Fassel.

“He’s struggling to maintain it,” Fassel said Wednesday during a conference call with Arizona reporters. “There’s really no other way around it. I’m sure he wanted more this season, and it really just hasn’t happened yet. But he’s tough, practices every rep at practice, he’s there early and attentive at every meeting. ...

“He’s a fighter, though, and he’ll bounce back next year. I have no doubt about it.”

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2017 opponents

The two open slots in the Cardinals’ 2017 schedule will be determined by the outcome of two or three games this weekend. The Cardinals are locked into the No. 2 slot in the NFC West and will play the second-place teams in the NFC North and South next year.

The Cardinals will travel to play the loser of Sunday night’s game between Detroit and Green Bay, which will decide the NFC North title.

The Cardinals will host either Tampa Bay or New Orleans. The Buccaneers (8-7) clinch second place in the NFC South with a victory over Carolina and would come to Arizona. The Saints (7-8) will come to Arizona if they win at Atlanta and Tampa Bay loses.

Arizona’s 2017 schedule looks like this: Home games against Tampa Bay or New Orleans, Dallas, the New York Giants, Jacksonville, Tennessee, San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles and away games at Green Bay or Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, Houston, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles. The road game against the Rams will be played in London at Twickenham Stadium in either Week 7 or 8.

azcentral sports Cardinals insider Kent Somers contributed to this report.