No one, however, would have given it a second thought if he had arrived late.

"I wasn't going to miss any more time," he said.

Eason missed the last week of OTAs and the three-day minicamp in June.

"I was taking care of my mom day in and day out, waking up every three hours in the middle of the night making sure she gets her pain meds, making sure she's taking her medicine. She was depending on me to do that."

There were emergency room trips and hospital stays. Eason said he often found himself sleeping on a sofa bed just so he could be there for his mom.

The Cardinals told him to take as much time as he needed.

"They're very understanding," Eason said. "(Ken Whisenhunt) is understanding. Mr. Bidwill is understanding. Rod (Graves) -- they're all on the same page with that. They all are family guys. They know things sometimes happen that we can't control. It's very true, family does come first."

Eason's mom, Iris Wilcox, has stage IV breast cancer that, according to Eason, has "moved to the lung area."

"I know that God is a miracle worker," he said. "I've heard a lot of success stories where people have been in her state and lived very, very long lives and go into remission. I'm very positive about. She has a positive outlook on it as well."

As Eason was reporting to camp Tuesday, his mom was being discharged from a Georgia hospital and transported to Goodyear and the Cancer Treatment Centers of America:

My mom made it safely! She is in route to the Cancer Center of America. She is doing pretty well. Her flight went well!

— Nick Eason (@njeason) July 26, 2012

"They can facilitate all her needs even better than I can," he said. "She's in really good hands."

Eason said he talks to his mom two or three times a day; and once camp ends, he'll only be a 45-minute drive away from his home in Chandler.

As difficult as the past month has been -- one of his uncles "who was basically a brother to me" died in June and a cousin passed away not long thereafter, he has not found it difficult to focus on football.

"It all comes down to prayer and preparation," he said. "I'm a man of faith. At the end of the day, everything is in God's will and it's not really under my control. It is really tough to watch someone who is sick and in pain but you really can't do anything for them besides smile and try to keep their spirits up.

"I come out (to the field). I know I have a job to do. I can separate the two. I'm a veteran guy. I'm been doing this for a really long time. It's not the first time something has taken place while I've been playing during the season."

Three years ago, Eason said his father -- whom he lost in May 2011, had a stroke the week of the first game of the season.

"When I'm (on the field) it's all about trying to win a Super Bowl. Then, when I leave (the field), I'll give (my mom) a call as soon as I get into the locker room, just make sure she's all right and being taken care of. Of course, you only have one mom.

"The biggest thing is I know she's being taken good care of there and I'll do what I do here on the football field."