Arizona Cardinals training camp: All-Access with Bruce Arians, July 28

GLENDALE – Head coach Bruce Arians, now in his fifth 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 personnel conversations he has with reporters following the morning walk-through.

“Alright injury-front, we had a hamstring and a quad yesterday. John Brown will miss a couple of days it looks like, maybe a week. Aaron Dobson will miss longer. John had the quad and Aaron had a hamstring. Ironhead Gallon (knee) will be back limited today. Jarvis (Jones, quad) is still day-to-day, (Ed) Stinson (hamstring) is day-to-day. We’re hoping those guys are back and ready for the game next week.

“Again, it was a solid practice. Ebb and flow. Defense won some, offense won some. We had some big plays on our young secondary that bit the heck out of some play-action. They got to get their eyes out of the backfield and they’ll be a little bit better. Overall, it was a very solid day.”

Is this a setback for Brown; he had looked so good so far in camp.

“He was doing so well. He was going for that deep pass in the end zone for the touchdown and he just felt it so he pulled up. He thought it was a cramp, it’s just a mild strain.”

Did you give Jared Veldheer the day off yesterday?

“Yes, it was a personal day.”

Was there a point last season where the light went on for Robert Nkemdiche?

“Probably around Thanksgiving because he missed all of training camp. It was hard for him re-injuring that ankle, but around Thanksgiving he started playing and then re-injured the ankle and it took a lot of steam out of him, a lot of frustration.”

What do you project for him this year?

“A solid year. You never put numbers, but he’s been very disruptive. I would look for him, knock on wood stay healthy, to have a very solid year.”

Is Nkemdiche like D.J. Humphries, where they just need a season to adjust to the NFL game?

“That’s the nature of the draft now. It’s not 15 years ago where you plug and play a first-round pick. These guys need a ton of work to learn to become professionals. It doesn’t mean if they don’t play as rookies they’re busts. It means we’re grooming them, probably to take somebody’s place and they’re ready to go.”

When you look at this offense, what kind of ‘X’ factor is John Brown?

“He’s obviously the big one. Last year he was missing. Michael Floyd didn’t fill it. J.J. (Nelson) filled it in November, when he was healthy, and December. When you take that explosive down-the-field play out of there, it’s a huge part of it.”

A week into camp, what’s your take on Haason Reddick?

“Unbelievable athlete. Extremely serious about it; over-serious as a matter of fact. Too conscientious. But when he turns it loose, it’s extremely impressive to watch. The biggest thing is his cover ability, having played defensive end although he was a safety in high school and had played defensive back.”

Where to you project Reddick, in a year or so?

“I don’t like comparing people (but) he should have as much or more of an impact on this defense than Daryl Washington had when he was young because they’re similar type players.”

What’s your rotation going to be when Deone Bucannon comes back?

“We’ll wait and see, wait and see how Haason is playing, how healthy is ‘Buc’. I hope we have that problem, if it is a problem.”

What have you seen from Trevor Knight?

“Trevor got better yesterday. We did some things that are in his comfort zone, but he’s progressing. This is a lot on his plate, to learn in this offense.”

What is his comfort zone?

“Running the hell out of the ball. And long passes.”

There were a lot of interceptions by the secondary yesterday in practice

“I wish it would’ve been a hell of lot more. I didn’t watch the 1-on-1 live, so I don’t put much stock in interceptions in 1-on-1. The ball shouldn’t even go there some times. Pat(rick Peterson) had a nice one on a backside dig route. I wish I could say the other five would’ve been pretty but I didn’t see another five. I’m looking for the other five.”

Do you plan to keep Carson Palmer on this schedule throughout camp?

“He shouldn’t even be here yet. This is all bonus days for him, so I’m not interested in seeing him do a whole lot. I love where he’s at right now and we just want to keep him there.”

Anyone look better in pads than they did in shorts?

“Oh yeah. Dorian (Johnson) looks better in pads. Scooby (Wright) looks better in pads. Ironhead Gallon looks better in pads. Some of these young kids. Budda (Baker). (Will) Holden looks good in pads. So those guys that struggled in shorts—Xavier Williams is always one of those guys.”

What can fans expect coming out to the “Red & White Scrimmage” on Saturday?

“Very similar to years past but we will scrimmage more. We’ll have move-the-ball scrimmage, other than short yardage and goal line. I’m not sure who’s tackling who. There will be a live scrimmage that we have not had in the past.”

Seems like Josh Mauro is flying under the radar?

“He’s not flying under my radar. He might be under the national radar or all the people that say we don’t have a defensive line. Josh has been as good a player as we’ve had for three years in the defensive line, as consistent. When he’s in the game, I don’t look his way because his job is getting done.”

Where’s the punting competition between Richie Leone and Matt Wile, is it just a matter who kicks the ball farther?

“Oh you can kick it too far. If we can’t cover it, that’s not real good so if you’re kicking it 65, 70-yards and it ain’t hanging real good, that ain’t too sporty. It’ll determine, a lot of it in games.”

Follow Craig Grialou on Twitter

Follow @CraigAZSports