Dealing Cards: Arizona has good start to camp with a bigger John Brown
Jul 22, 2017, 6:32 PM | Updated: 9:22 pm
Arizona Cardinals free safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) and guard Mike Iupati (76) greet each other during the first day of NFL football training camp for the team, Saturday, July 22, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals officially opened their 2017 training camp Saturday in front of a good sized crowd that was not afraid to present lofty goals.
Screams for the Super Bowl were clear, and while that is certainly the goal for the team, at least on a national level it is not really an expectation.
All of that will be sorted out in due time; for now, the Cardinals took the field at University of Phoenix Stadium for what many see as the true beginning to the season.
Notable
– The fans clearly adore Larry Fitzgerald, chanting his name and audibly cheering every time he catches a pass. He gave everyone a couple of highlights, including a diving catch on a Carson Palmer pass at the very beginning of practice. It was vintage Fitz.
– It is only one practice, but Drew Stanton appeared to be a bit off. Blaine Gabbert, on the other hand, looked mostly sharp.
– In one red zone drill, rookie RB T.J. Logan received a screen pass and proceeded to reach the end zone. With no pads being worn nobody was being tackled, but the North Carolina product looked pretty quick on the play.
– After being held out of the latter parts of offseason work due to a hamstring issue, WR John Brown was on the field looking rather spry. Fellow wideout Jaron Brown, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, was also running around participating.
More Smoke
Right now, John Brown is listed at 5-foot-11 and 179 pounds.
He has not gotten any taller (or shrunk, for that matter), but he is a bit bigger at 185 pounds.
“I feel good with the weight I put on,” Brown said. “So I’m ready to go.”
Brown said he played last season at around 172 pounds, and believes being a bit bigger and stronger will help him going forward. Once he had the cyst removed from his spine, he was able to really bulk up.
Asked if he thinks he’ll maintain his speed even at a bigger size, Brown said, “Of course” because, he will never lose that.
Looking good, rook
Rookie LB Haason Reddick was chatting with the media when Patrick Peterson walked by and, regarding his first day, told the rookie “that was a good start.”
“It just lets me know that I’m doing the right thing,” the first-round pick said of the praise. “But I made mistakes today and I want to get better at it.”
Reddick added he wants to improve so that he can help Peterson and the team’s other veterans.
“Today, in my opinion, wasn’t good enough for me,” he said. “Something I’m going to work on and step up.”
Jaron’s back, too
Jaron Brown could hardly prevent himself from smiling when talking about the first practice.
He is, after all, coming back from a devastating knee injury.
“Finally,” he said of practicing. “Felt good. I can’t tell you how excited I was to get out there. Just looking forward to training camp.”
Brown said he is still kind of limited as he eases back into things, but is otherwise full-go. He has rust to shake off, he admitted, but felt good getting in and out of his breaks.
As for the rest of his comeback, Brown said he is taking things one day at a time.
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