The Arizona Cardinals had a busy day on and off the field. As we covered all the Sunday action off the field, the team put on the pads and spent two-hours of a partly sunny Flagstaff afternoon running through a variety of drills. It wasn't always pretty but at least tomorrow the complement of players will include all the team's rookies who are now signed and in camp. Patrick Peterson even took the podium for a 6:00 pm press conference.
Peterson is understandably excited to get the contract stuff out of the way and practice on Monday for the first time in a Cardinals uniform. It won't, however, be the first time he's lined up opposite Larry Fitzgerald. Like many players this offseason Peterson worked out with Fitz in Arizona during the summer.
"He told me he's going to get me better," Peterson said. Guarding the best receiver in the league in practice will prepare certainly help prepare the rookie for NFL Sundays.
As for practice, "It was good to get out here on the field in pads and see some of these guys. I like the intensity and effort but a lot of the little things you're seeing -- guys lining up offsides, missing the count, being in the wrong place, making mistakes. A lot of the things you see early in the offseason that you get your players comfortable with you're going to have to fight through."
Linebacker Clark Haggans agreed that this training camp has been a challenge, "It's a lot different than what I've seen before with all this activity. We've crammed six months worth of stuff in four or five days. It's flurry. It's kind of exciting especially for you guys just to report. There's news happening every 10 minutes something big and breaking."
The Cardinals will have two practices on Monday with the early work out (9:05 am) being a walk-thru only. (Full practice schedule here.)
For more on the Cardinals, check out Revenge of the Birds.
Other Notes:
- "After a lot of consideration we felt it was probably in the best interest of both the club and Tim (Hightower) that we go in that direction. I can't say enough about what Tim's done for us. It's tough decision. I think the ultimately this works out the best for him and the best for us. I wish him nothing but the best. He's a good football player." -- Whisenhunt on trading Tim Hightower
- "Excited about (Todd Heap). We're getting a veteran player that's been successful in this league. It helps that he has a lot of fans in this area because he played good football here." -- Whisenhunt on Todd Heap
- "We're really excited about how he fits in and what we're going to be able to do with him. A large part of these next couple of weeks is seeing what his strengths are in our offense. But when you think about our receivers and combining Todd Heap with them trying to create some mismatches you get pretty excited about that." -- -- Whisenhunt on Todd Heap
- "We love Deuce. He's a good football player...he comes back to us know in a position where he's got some things to prove." -- -- Whisenhunt on Deuce Lutui
