Arizona Cardinals end offseason work early, last mini-camp practice canceled

TEMPE, Ariz. — Attendance? Excellent.

Work? Outstanding.

Health? The Arizona Cardinals are in good condition, minus some nagging bumps, bruises and normal soreness accustomed to football.

Having checked off all of the above here this offseason, head coach Bruce Arians rewarded his team with a day off Thursday, meaning an earlier than expected start to summer vacation.

The Cardinals’ mandatory three-day mini-camp ended after day two.

“We’ve accomplished everything that we’ve set out to accomplish this spring to have us ready for camp,” he said following a two-hour plus practice Wednesday. “Keep everybody healthy and ready to go. Throw the guys a bone because they have showed up. They’ve worked. We had great attendance and great effort this entire spring. This walk-through this afternoon will be our last time (together) until we go to camp.”

To no one’s surprise, the announcement was met with approval from the entire 90-man roster.

“Anytime you get a day off it’s always great,” wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “But with that being said, he wouldn’t have given us off if he wasn’t happy with our progress. That says a lot about what we were able to accomplish over these couple weeks of OTA and mini-camp practices.”

The Cardinals began their offseason work April 20 with the beginning of the strength and conditioning program.

On-field work with coaching, though minus helmets, contact and offense vs. defense, was allowed May 4.

Ten days of organized team activities (OTAs) followed before this week’s mini-camp, which was to run through Thursday.