Notes from the Nest: Arizona Cardinals training camp – Aug. 8

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Cardinals held their annual Red & White Practice Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium to the delight of a very sizable crowd.

Now, on a personal note, I always enjoyed this part of training camp when it was a night practice in Flagstaff, as the lights gave it a nice feel.

But I digress. The Cardinals got a nice afternoon’s worth of work in, which is a nice way to wrap up their first full week of camp.

The Good

Receiver Jaron Brown once again made his presence felt, coming down with a nice diving catch on a Carson Palmer deep ball during 7-on-7. He also scored a touchdown after coming down with a Drew Stanton pass that bounced off an Arizona defender first.

I tweeted it out during the practice, and it’s very true: There have been a good many times this camp where John Brown has appeared to be unstoppable. He made a handful of excellent catches Saturday and looked like he was open on a number of plays where the ball did not come his way. Palmer hit him for a touchdown in the back of the end zone during red zone work, and he also took a short pass in for a score later on.

Logan Thomas was OK throwing the ball but excellent running with it. He scored on a scramble during red zone work and on another run — this one closer to midfield — got the edge and gave a stiff-arm to a helpless defender in order to gain a few more yards.

In one drill, linebacker Edwin Jackson made a diving breakup of a Thomas pass.

Tyrann Mathieu and Palmer were their usual excellent selves.

The Bad

Gerald Christian had a fairly rough day, with the worst play being a practice-ending fumble.

Jerraud Powers left practice early on with an apparent injury, though it was impossible to tell what could have been wrong. Fellow cornerback Darren Woodard also left with an injury after attempting to tackle tight end Ifeanyi Momah.

The Is it Good or Is it Bad

The defense won four of the six goal-line battles. Kerwynn Williams and Stepfan Taylor each punched one in for the offense, but otherwise it was a fairly resounding victory for the D.

Notable

J.J. Nelson got a lot of work as the third receiver in the first-team offense.

Glenn Carson was lined up next to Kevin Minter as the other middle linebacker in Arizona’s first-team defense.

Larry Fitzgerald (foot injury) practiced a little, but otherwise took it easy.

Quotable

“I don’t think so. In his package, when he’s healthy, he’s played really good. He played with one arm last year.  But in his package — we didn’t bring him here to play dime.  We brought him here for Seattle and San Francisco, to play the run. And in those games, he and Kenny Demens both have played good because they’re rock-‘em-sock-‘em football players. They’re not basketball players spread out all over the field.” – Bruce Arians on if this is a ‘make-or-break’ season for LB Kevin Minter

“To be out of the strap, it’s ridiculous. It’s just being able to play free, play like I was, not worrying about it. I don’t even think about it out there and that’s such a load off.” – Kevin Minter on how nice it is to be healthy after dealing with a pectoral injury all of 2014

“Definitely got little bit of rust I’ve got to shake off, but everything is moving pretty well and I’m ready to get back in there.” – TE Jermaine Gresham, who returned to practice this week

Highlights are fun

Tip for another @jaronbrown13 TOUCHDOWN! #CardsCamp https://t.co/2dKZwHkGB4

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 8, 2015

Up Next

The Cardinals have Sunday off before getting back on the field Monday. It is a game week for the team, as the preseason opener is Aug. 15 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

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