Cardinals focused on mastering basics of foundation as training camp begins
Jul 26, 2023, 9:00 PM | Updated: Aug 3, 2023, 11:18 pm
GLENDALE — The Arizona Cardinals are not projected to be anywhere near the 2023 NFL playoff race.
They have a better chance at locking down the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft than making noise in the division this season. Last year’s dismal showing and the massive overturn in talent since can be thanked for those low expectations.
Even if the team’s blueprint for the future lights a path out of the NFL dungeon, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Arizona knows that.
So while the NFL is a business built around success, the Cardinals aren’t about to cut any corners under head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort when it comes to the foundation Arizona is constructing.
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“I really respect everybody that’s here working,” running back James Conner said after the first day of training camp on Wednesday. “I really respect coach Gannon and (offensive coordinator Drew Petzing) and all those guys for just accepting the challenge.
“We weren’t that good of a football team last year, but you can just see the changes being made and just the energy. The tone is being set for sure. I really respect those guys and it’s really nice to be back in and work towards something.”
Among the biggest changes to the team’s culture is having a bigger onus on the accountability side of things. It’s been preached since Gannon and Ossenfort took their jobs in the desert and will continue to be engrained in the brains of those on the roster and coaching staff.
It’s all about nailing down the little things for the new-look Cardinals as they work their way back to relevancy, something that wasn’t the case last season in Kliff Kingsbury’s and Steve Keim’s final year in their respective roles.
“You can’t be 30 seconds late to a meeting,” linebacker Zaven Collins said Wednesday. “You need to be there taking care of your stuff without being guided. We’re grown men doing this game. It’s small things like that. … In this culture, everyone’s held accountable and they have to be. If they’re held accountable in the locker room, they’re going to be held accountable on the field.”
“Are you thinking about you or are you thinking about the team?” the linebacker added on the organizational mindset. “That’s what it is. If you’re late to a meeting or fighting on the field — everyone gets upset but you got to control your emotions — especially during a game.”
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