Notes from the Nest: Red zone work, some turnovers Saturday

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Cardinals coach Bruce Arians likes to refer to football practice without pads as being more like soccer. Well, assuming he’s not a fan of athletes like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, the coach will be most pleased to get to Sunday’s training camp practice, which will be the first in pads.

But before Sunday happens the team needed to get through Saturday, and in front of a solid crowd, the Cardinals got some more quality work in. They seemed to spend a good chunk of the afternoon working on their red zone stuff, in which both sides of the ball had their moments.

The Good

– Linebacker Markus Golden showed both good hands and good awareness in coming down with an interception on the second play of 11-on-11 work. The play was a designed screen to tight end Ifeanyi Momah, but the short pass bounced off his hands and into Golden’s.

– Jaxon Shipley made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on a deep ball from Drew Stanton during 11-on-11.

– Safety Tyrequeck Zimmerman stepped in front of the receiver to pick off a Matt Barkley pass during 11-on-11.

– Carson Palmer connected with both Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown for touchdowns during red zone.

– Tight end Darren Fells scored a TD during red zone, too.

– Deone Bucannon showed off some of his defensive back skills with a pick of Palmer in the red zone.

– There is some controversy (confusion?) as to who snagged another red zone interception, with the candidates being safety Chris Clemons or CB Shaun Prater. Whichever player it was picked off Stanton in the red zone.

– John Brown appeared to make a great diving catch on a deep ball from Palmer. Patrick Peterson was all over him in coverage, but the receiver was able to get just enough separation on the dive to come down with the ball. It’s worth noting Peterson and his defensive teammates claimed the ball was incomplete, though Brown appeared confident it was a catch. Of course, none of the parties involved can claim they are unbiased.

– Rookie Brandon Williams, who had a very good first day of camp, picked off Carson Palmer during 11-on-11 red zone work. He also broke up passes that were intended for Nelson and John Brown.

The Bad

– J.J. Nelson struggled to hold onto the ball Saturday. On one play he was open deep, but Palmer’s very catchable pass fell incomplete.

– Neither Matt Barkley nor Jake Coker seemed all that sharp in this one.

Notable

One of Coker’s biggest issues is that he tends to extend his left arm while throwing the ball with his right. It causes him to open up some and get off balance, which then leads to his throws sailing. In order to try and curb this, the coaches are having the undrafted rookie stick a towel under between his left arm and shoulder. The goal is to keep it there through his pass.

On Friday, Earl Watford was the second team center. On Saturday, Taylor Boggs got the first crack at snapping the ball to Stanton. What does it mean? Hard to take much from it, because the coaches may just want to get different players different looks in multiple lineups.

Also spotted was Tyvon Branch playing with the first team in the Tyrann Mathieu nickel corner/safety role. That put Tony Jefferson and D.J. Swearinger as the safeties. Cariel Brooks also received some first team reps, as did Ed Stinson.

Injury report

We learned Saturday morning that Robert Nkemdiche is dealing with a high ankle sprain that will likely keep him out at least two weeks, according to Arians. Also revealed was that Jermaine Gresham has a hamstring injury that was going to get looked at via MRI and Red Bryant has an Achilles problem (though not severe). Mike Jenkins broke his hand in Friday’s practice, and though no injury has been revealed, defensive back Elie Bouka missed his second straight practice.

The players who began camp on the PUP list — Justin Bethel, Tyrann Mathieu, Frostee Rucker and Zack Wagenmann — remain there.

The more you can do, right?

A year ago, Watford — naturally a right guard — got work at left guard and right tackle. Since then, he’s added center to his repertoire, and apparently now he’s looking to add one more skill. Following practice he, as well as Evan Boehm and Clay DeBord — spent some time long snapping.

Quotable

“If you just watch the Arizona Cardinals, or if you’ve been on this team, I don’t think there’s anybody every really around here complaining about the ball because everybody gets their share. It might be one game it’s Larry and another game might be Mike and it might be John — anybody, you know what I’m saying? One game it might be David, one game it might be me. There’s so many different guys and B.A. knows the right way to get us guys the ball and put the game plan together. It always works out good and nobody around here is complaining. Everybody here has got one goal, and that’s getting to the Super Bowl. However we’ve got to win, everybody’s down with that.” – Chris Johnson on the confidence that skill players will get enough touches

“Oh it’s just been awesome. The rehab process is just so long and grueling, and just mentally exhausting. And then just working so hard to get back and being able to — you’re always going to have that self doubt until you get back out there and actually start playing football, so after practice [Friday] was a good opportunity to sit back, take a deep breath, really thank God for bringing me through this process and I’m looking forward to this year.” – Corey Peters on making his return from an Achilles injury that cost him 2015

“I think they’re two of the most physical, yeah; that’s what I like about them. I think off the field they’re probably pussycats, but off the field, nah, not so fast.” – Arians when asked if he has two of the meanest guards in the NFL in Mike Iupati and Evan Mathis

Stories that are worth your time

Craig Grialou wrote on D.J. Humphries, who feels he must be doing something right these days.

The Cardinals said bye to one receiver while adding another.

Yours truly has a story on Brandon Williams and how the rookie CB “has no time to waste.”

Bruce Arians press conferences are always a delight, and with that in mind here are some of the best quotes from Saturday’s effort.

And finally, some highlights

.@LarryFitzgerald hits the field for #CardsCamp! https://t.co/WL4q4JRLeS

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) July 30, 2016

Crisp route from @Jwalk_back12. #CardsCamp pic.twitter.com/1JcZudnMlq

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) July 30, 2016

.@MichaelMFloyd over the shoulder grab. #CardsCamp https://t.co/9ll8glfadt

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) July 30, 2016

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