After a low-tempo first day of practice Wednesday for the Arizona Cardinals in training camp, the heat was on Thursday with a high-tempo day and fans in attendance.
Here are some observations that come with thoughts from the participants.
“High” tempo equals volatility
After a “low” tempo Arizona Cardinals practice on Day 2, things ratcheted up on Thursday with energy and “high” tempo. The day lived up to head coach Jonathan Gannon’s prediction before practice when he said, “We’re gonna go-go today.”
We won’t call it a fight, but one result was some pushing and shoving on a running play with James Conner heading to the sideline. Several bodies were in the mix, and left guard Will Hernandez gave a strong shove to linebacker Mack Wilson Sr., who tumbled out of bounds.
Wilson stormed back and tried to get to Hernandez, but several defensive teammates were able to hold him back.
After practice, Hernandez said, “That whole deal today was provided by Wolf, so go ask him.”
It turns out Hernandez was a guest on 98.7 ArizonaSports before practice and co-host Ron Wolfley, who loves himself some violence, asked if he’d gotten in a fight yet.
Said Hernandez, “You’ve kinda got me on the second day and we haven’t even got pads on yet, so you got to give me some more time.”
After his “Wolf” comment, Hernandez said, “It got a little carried away. It’s been many, many months of no football and you get back into it, sometimes that’s what happens. But the point is check ourselves and make sure we take care of our teammates at the end of the day, because I need him and he needs me.”
But, you want to be physical, right Will?
“Yeah; it’s a very fine line that we gotta walk,” he said, “and I’m not saying everybody’s perfect with it, but we need to get better with that.”
Some big plays
All three quarterbacks (Kyler Murray, Desmond Ridder and Clayton Tune) got a lot of quality snaps in the 1-hour, 25-minute practice. Running backs ran hard, receivers made excellent catches and the defense competed.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon (no surprise) came when Murray moved to his left and threaded a pass to rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in stride, just past cornerback Max Melton. Later, Murray rolled right and found tight end Trey McBride and wide receiver Michael Wilson near the right sideline.
Ridder connected with tight end Elijah Higgins on a longer pass to the left, while he also connected with wide receiver Zay Jones at the right sideline where rookie safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson had good coverage.
After the play, the defensive backs coach in Jonathan Gannon’s past came to the forefront as he went to “Rabbit” to provide some pointers.
Melton nearly had an interception on a pass he should have caught, while rookie corner Elijah Jones also had an impressive breakup.
Keeping three quarterbacks
There will be many decisions to be made when the roster is cut to 53 players on Aug. 27 and one will be whether to keep all three quarterbacks on the roster.
Asked if that could be a difficult choice, Gannon said, “Yeah, absolutely.”
He then referenced general manager Monti Ossenfort by saying, “But you can’t look at it in a vacuum because that impacts everything else. Monti has a great way of how he says it because that decision, ‘Oh, we’re going to keep three or four here or two or three there or six or seven there.’ There’s a trickle-down effect to the entire roster that that affects, so in essence we talked about competing for your role. OK, so I’m a DB and I’m competing vs. these other DBs. I’m also competing against that receiver, that tight end, that back because what you do on game day and all three phases applies to that and it’s a reality in the NFL and our guys know that.
“It sounds harsh as I said that, but it’s the reality. So a lot of those decisions are made not just with each group; it’s the entire team, but we’re always going to make what we think is the best decision for the team.”
As for how he currently evaluates Ridder and Tune, Gannon mentioned quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork when he said, “They’ve both been good. Iz has done a good job with those guys and they know it’s a healthy competition that’s going to be competitive for the two-three spot.”
Hmmm. Was that a hint that they’re leaning to keeping both? We’ll see in 33 days, while the question could come down to trying to add Tune to the practice squad, knowing he could be claimed on waivers.
Gannon said Woolfork has worked closely with them and said, “Here’s what you need to do to be the No. 2. And be ready to play and help us win games if needed if your role changes. I’m looking forward to those two playing. We take it day by day with how we structure who’s going with what groups. They’ll both play with the ones, two and threes because I want to see them play with everybody.
“Both of them will know when they’re going in and both of them won’t know when they’re going in. I’m going to throw them in because that’s what could happen in a game. They’ve both been awesome, they’re very mature, self-aware consistent guys and I’m looking forward to it.”
Gaines overcame the peaks and valley
Had the opportunity to talk to offensive lineman Jon Gaines II after practice and he had kudos for all those that helped him get through the tough times of his rehab from a torn ACL, especially tackles Kelvin Beachum and D.J. Humphries.
“The whole room was really there for me and I want to shout out Beach and Hump,” Gaines said. “They were really big in my corner. They both talked to me about the injuries they had gone through in their careers, being able to see them on the other side. You got Beach going into double-digit years (13); he’s been playing for a long time you got Hump who was just a great guy to be around. He talked to me about the importance of taking it day by day, so being able to lean on them really helped me.”
He also mentioned the entire training staff of Drew Krueger, Jeff Herndon, Chad Cook, Cayman Greene, Mariah Roman and Paul Lange, along with senior conditioning coordinator Buddy Morris, who he worked with “every single day” and head strength and conditioning coach Evan Marcus.
Gaines said, “There’s so many people to give a shout-out to. They laid out the steps for me to be able to go that helped me take it day by day because they had such a great game plan for me to get back on the field.”
How did he get through it? No different than getting ready to play, Gaines said: “You have to have a mission every single day. You set a goal and you go attack it. The biggest motivation was being able to come back. You have your down moments, you have your up moments, but everybody talked about; it’s not a straight line. It’s really more like peaks and valleys. You have good days, you have bad days, but it’s really about being consistent in your approach every single day.”
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