Notes from the Nest: Arizona Cardinals training camp – Aug. 24

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Cardinals were back on the practice field for the first time since their 22-19 preseason loss to the San Diego Chargers this past Saturday. They donned shells for the affair, which kept hitting to a minimum.

The Good

Cornerback Jimmy Legree made a nice interception during one of the early drills. Later in practice, he did a nice job breaking up a deep pass from Carson Palmer that was intended for John Brown.

Running back David Johnson continued to flash his outstanding receiving skills, making a nice catch on a Drew Stanton pass.

Receiver Larry Fitzgerald made a bushel of nice catches in the early part of 11-on-11 work.

The Bad

It’s tough to put not coming up with interceptions in this category, but safety Anthony Walters had a couple chances at interceptions that he failed to come up with.

Overall, there seemed to be a real lack of big plays from the offense. How much of that was by design and how much was the defense playing well, who knows, but this did not seem to be the offense’s most explosive day.

The Injury Report

The Cardinals have been slowly getting healthier, though Monday saw a good many players on the sideline. They were:

Jerraud Powers

Sean Weatherspoon

Chris Johnson

Jermaine Gresham

Brittan Golden

Earl Watford

Michael Floyd

Mike Iupati

Prior to practice, Arians said Powers will be shut down for a while, Weatherspoon is unlikely to get back on the field this week, and Johnson is day-to-day (which is an improvement from where he was last Saturday). The coach said Gresham, Golden and Watford are all expected back on the field Wednesday.

Notable

I already mentioned how Larry Fitzgerald made some nice catches, but early it seemed as though the Cardinals were making a real effort to get the ball to No. 11.

With D.J. Humphries being moved to second-team left tackle for the week and Earl Watford, who is going to work at right tackle, sidelined, Bobby Massie found himself running with the second-team at right tackle.

J.J. Nelson continued to work with the first-team at wide receiver.

Shaq Riddick was not sidelined, though it did not appear he took part in 11-on-11 or 7-on-7. Working his way back from a bad hamstring injury, it would make sense that the team is being careful with him.

Bradley Sowell, who right now is slated to be the team’s right tackle, spent some time on the sideline long snapping. Probably nothing, but thought it was interesting.

Quotable

“None. None. Their butts are about the same.” – Bruce Arians on how much input Carson Palmer will have in determining the competition at center

“I need to see a lot. I haven’t seen anything yet. That’s very discouraging right now, is to know where he’s at as a football player having missed most of last year and all of this camp.” – Bruce Arians on how much he needs to see from Sean Weatherspoon over next couple of weeks to feel comfortable going into the season with him

“It’s really nothing to come to terms with, I’m a football player first. You can put a position on everybody, but at the same time they’re here to play football. They’re here to get on the field, do what the coaches tell you to do. I just see myself as an athlete — you can put me wherever you want. I played a little bit of safety, I played linebacker. I came off the edge last year, a lot, too, so honestly it’s wherever the coaches want me to be. I take pride in that and I’m happy that they see me as a player that can do that because I don’t feel like a lot of people can do that, and I think they have a lot of faith in me that I can.” – Deone Bucannon on being drafted as a safety but playing a lot of linebacker

Then there was this exchange between “reporter” Calais Campbell and Bucannon. In Saturday’s game, Bucannon ended up putting a solid hit on Campbell, who briefly left the game but was able to return.

CC: “I’m curious, after you hit me and knocked me out of the game for a play, did you feel bad at all?”

DB: (laughing) “You put me on the spot. I definitely did. If you see, after the play, I had my hands on my head, like, ‘this is our top guy, this our top guy.’ It was like last year all over again, because I had hit Patrick Peterson last year, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, here we go again.’ I was really just hoping and praying that you weren’t hurt.”

CC: “I’m pretty tough, but that was the hardest I’ve been hit, just so you know. You’re a hard hitter.”

Some Highlights

Making plays and blowing past the defense, it's @LarryFitzgerald.

Are you even surprised? #CardsCamp pic.twitter.com/KX13QfY8rC

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 25, 2015

D-line vs O-line. #CardsCamp https://t.co/spmmyPXhrp

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 24, 2015

What's better than our WRs making plays? Our WRs making play in slow motion. #CardsCamp https://t.co/lBlhX6DJU1

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 24, 2015

Up Next

The Cardinals have Tuesday off before getting back on the field Wednesday for a walkthrough and then a 2:00 p.m. practice. Arians said the plan is to treat this kind of like a regular game week given that the preseason matchup with the Oakland Raiders will take place Sunday night.

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