Cardinals rookie QB Josh Rosen blew Patrick Peterson’s mind in mini-camp

If he had to put money on it, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson would bet on quarterback Sam Bradford taking the first snaps of the 2018 season.

That doesn’t mean he wasn’t impressed by rookie Josh Rosen during mandatory mini-camp in June.

Making the media rounds during the Hyundai Youth Football Camp on Monday, one theme over the course of several interviews recurred. Peterson was blown away by Rosen’s performances through rookie mini-camp, OTAs and mandatory camp.

“To do some of the things that he was able to do the first couple weeks that he was there,” Peterson told Bickely & Marotta on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station, “it completely blew my mind to be running hurry-up offenses and two-minute offense like week one, week two with a rookie quarterback that just got drafted — that just left UCLA, and he’s able to orchestrate the offense in the proper manner.

“I tell you, I was blown away when I saw that. The future is definitely here with the Cardinals. I just don’t know when he would get his shot.”

First-year Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said in May that Rosen, who was selected 10th overall by Arizona in the 2018 NFL Draft, was no long shot to earn the starting job. That said, Bradford is expected to start having signed a lucrative contract as a free agent. Coming off a knee injury that robbed him of most of 2017, Bradford has been protected by the Cardinals and brought along slowly with months to go before the season begins.

That gave Arizona the opportunity to throw Rosen, the UCLA product, into the fire early on.

And for all the questions about his commitment to football and his outspokenness that created a lot of the narrative heading into the draft, Rosen is doing all he can to prove his focus on the field — and so far, doing it well.

“To see him make checks and get guys in line early, I was like, ‘Has this guy been here before?’ I was very, very impressed of his spring camp, minicamp, OTAs,” Peterson said Monday on The Rich Eisen Show.

“Honestly since he’s been with us, he’s been the total opposite of what you hear from the media or you hear from outside people,” Peterson added. “The way he’s able to grasp the offense right now and get guys in line right now, I’ve been very, very impressed with that. As far as his throwing motion and his quarterback IQ and his pocket presence and all that stuff, it’s off the charts. I’ve never seen a rookie come on a team and do some of the things he’s doing.”

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