Arizona Cardinals training camp: All-Access with Bruce Arians – July 29, 2014
Jul 29, 2014, 9:14 PM | Updated: Jul 30, 2014, 4:34 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Head coach Bruce Arians, now in his second year with the Arizona Cardinals, meets the media each day during training camp.
Here, in this space, we’ll highlight many of the key topics and personal conversations he has with reporters following the morning walk-through:
“You can tell we have pads on. I’ve got a list (of injuries) now. Missing practice today: Antonio Cromartie has got a slight (pectoral) issue. Andre Ellington with a sore neck. The only serious thing is Lyle Sendlein is probably looking at three weeks with a calf injury. Ernie Sims has got back spasms. Christian Tupou has got a slight groin. Todd Washington has a groin (injury).
“Other than that, everybody is going to go.”
Looking back at the first practice in full pads
“Really, really pleased with the start of football practice yesterday. Very impressed with the running backs-linebackers drill. Excellent. One of the best drills I’ve been around for a long, long time for the running backs. Normally, linebackers just kill ‘em. It was very good. Robert Hughes was outstanding. But overall, I thought practice was extremely physical, smart and fast. If we can continue to practice on that level, which is hard, it’s always as easy as the first one. It’s that fourth, fifth one.”
Did Deone Bucannon show some physicality?
“Yeah, a little bit. He was trying to show off a little bit. Tried to show that he’s a tough guy. We know he’s a tough guy. He’d have got flagged and got penalized. They’d have had the ball first and goal on the one, so it’s stupid. And he learned from it.”
How did some of the players coming off injuries look in pads?
“Sam (Acho) looked fantastic. He had two hustle plays, punch-out fumbles and was way down the field. And he had an excellent pass-rush day. (Jonathan Cooper) gets better and better. I think he got over a major hurdle himself yesterday. He’s not going to look great because he’s going against Calais (Campbell) every day, all day. That’s a tough matchup, but he’s got to win his share because he’s going against good players all week, every week. It’s good battle testing for him.”
What is his impression of the kicking competition thus far?
“So far, (Chandler Catanzaro) has been perfect, so that’s the only impression I can gather from it. The rest of the guys haven’t been (perfect). The numbers don’t lie. We’ll see how they all do in the games. Practice is one thing; games are another. I’ve seen Jay (Feely) in games for, what, 12 years? So, I don’t need to see Jay in a lot of games. I know he’s got nerves. The other two guys you want to see and see them do it out in front of the crowd.”
Is John Abraham’s absence from camp because of his DUI arrest?
“No comment. I knew about (the arrest). I was in Georgia at the time.”
