Day 1
The Arizona Cardinals’ Training Camp officially kicked off on Saturday with over 12,000 fans piling into the University of Phoenix stadium, even with no pads and limited contact the #BirdGang crowd was extremely loud. Drew Butler (P) was the first to sneak out on the field, followed by Brittan Golden (WR) and then Chandler Catanzaro (K). As usual the home fans cheered when the popular notables came out, Bruce Arians, Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Larry Fitzgerald, Calais Campbell and others all received very warm welcomes. The major talk in the stands was mainly about Carson Palmer and how incredibly long this off-season felt, but rest assured, both football and Carson Palmer are finally back.
Once on the field, the team warmed up and then quickly separated into specific drills. Punter Dave Zastudil (who was injured most of last year) looked to be in true form booming punts to the likes of John Brown, J.J. Nelson (rookie), and even Patrick Peterson. The home crowd of course erupts when Peterson fields a punt, but I seriously doubt we will see this during actual game time. Bruce Arians will need Peterson on defense more now than ever with the departure of Antonio Cromartie, I just don’t see the head coach risking another injury after losing Tyrann Mathieu on returns a couple of years ago.
Jen Welter, it was hard to find her at times. Definitely not a distraction at camp, she’s just another coach out there doing what coaches do. All I really saw was the players giving their attention and listening to a coach. I wish there was more to report but the whole thing looked very normal. She looks like she is in her natural element, it’s easy to see why she was invited.
Some Day #1 notables:
Andre Ellington (RB) looks to be 100%, and the rookie David Johnson (RB) was impressive with both his speed and his hands, as advertised.
John Brown ran a beautiful route with Patrick Peterson covering, snagging the ball at the sideline to the crowd’s delight. Brown looks bigger and quicker this year, if that’s even possible.
Logan Thomas looked better than the competition he has for the QB #3 spot, I know it’s only day one but he looked comfortable out there. Back up QB Drew Stanton looks sharp as well.
Wide Receivers Jaron Brown and Brittan Golden were making plays all over the place, receiving, special teams, these cats are putting the work in and it shows. It seems like the Cardinals always have a plethora of talented receivers, 2015 will be no different.
Day 2
Day 2 started out much the same. First came Butler, then came Golden, followed by Zastudil and Catanzaro. Butler is showing some quality hang time, Zasty may just have a competition on his hands. Brittan Golden, what can I say? There are no pads on yet, and yes the intensity will pick up as we go, but this guy is all business whether he is returning punts, catching passes, or gunning down the sidelines on special teams. Definitely someone to look out for.
J.J. Nelson looks fast, and I’m talking John Brown fast. I can see he and Golden competing for all kinds of playing time in the upcoming weeks.
The Honeybadger aka Tyrann Mathieu looks very comfortable out there, not only does he look healthy, he looked like he was having the most fun hyping up the crowd and clowning with his team mates.
Jimmy Legree has been getting some attention this off season, while watching him in coverage I am beginning to understand why. Legree has polished his skill set playing against Fitz, Floyd, and Brown for sometime now (on the practice squad), this could be why the Cards felt comfortable with cutting Alfonzo Dennard.
Some of the best Sunday action was when they split the field in half, receivers vs secondary on one side, and the TEs vs the LB unit on the other. After that the team went full on 11 vs 11 with the offense having some success against the defense but again, there wasn’t much contact.
Fitz looked like Fitz, Michael Floyd looks super strong, Jaron Brown and Brittan Golden ran very nice routes giving them separation. But John Brown and J.J. Nelson, they were simply too fast to get pics from my cell phone. Bruce Arians has an arsenal at wide receiver and Carson Palmer is a lucky man.
As for Jen Welter she just continues to do her thing. She spent a lot of time in the middle of the field observing the LB core and giving her input on their play. She looks like a duck in water to me, very sure of herself and isn’t a distraction at all. As a fan I am very proud of this ball club for finding such a fit female candidate. Her career took off like a rocket last week but she is doing very well in space.
The scariest part of the day was when the third round draft pick David Johnson came up limping after a stellar play. This is the rookie running back that is supposed to share the work load with Andre Ellington. Losing Johnson would be a big blow, but as of now nothing has been released as to the severity of the (hamstring?) injury.
The Cardinals will put on the gear and go full contact on Monday, their first pre-season game will be against the K.C. Chiefs on August 15th. Until then, as they always say in camp, let’s just hope for no injuries.
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