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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Jess Root

News and notes from Saturday’s practice in Cardinals training camp

The Arizona Cardinals held their annual Red & White Practice Saturday afternoon at State Farm Stadium in front of thousands of fans.

I was in attendance for media availability.

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Here are some news, notes and takeaways from the afternoon.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

More game-like practice

Jonathan Gannon had coaches up in the booth making calls like in a game. The players did not have a script so there was “more chaos” to the practice.

After individual drills, it was basically all 11-on-11 work from different parts of the field with different timing on the clock.

Offense started slowly

The first part of practice was very slow. It was mostly runs and short passing plays.

The first real downfield play made was when Jeff Driskel completed a pass down the field to Brian Cobbs.

Scoring picked up

Later in practice, the first-team offense scored three times and the second unit did once.

Back of the TE room featured

There was a lot of Noah Togiai on Saturday. He had several receptions as the Cardinals practiced without Zach Ertz, Trey McBride or Geoff Swaim.

Bernhard Seikovits got first-team reps.

Undrafted rookies Blake Whiteheart and Joel Honigford got many reps.

Honigford, a former college offensive tackle, had a couple of drops.

Marlon Mack looked good

The newest addition to the roster stood out with some physical and some long runs.

Of course, he has fresh legs while the rest of the team is two weeks into camp and at the end of a long week. He also got reps with the third-team offense, not the first team, so he was going against defenders who mostly won’t be on the roster.

WR Michael Wilson stood out

Once again, the third-round rookie receiver was targeted often and made plays. He scored two touchdowns on the afternoon.

Offensive line rotations

The starting remained the same as it has for some time — D.J. Humphries, Elijah Wilkinson, Hjalte Froholdt, Will Hernandez and Paris Johnson.

The second unit was Josh Jones, Dennis Daley, Jon Gaines, Marquis Hayes and Kelvin Beachum.

The third unit was Jackson Barton, Lecitus Smith, Pat Elflein, Lachavious Simmons and Badara Traore, with Hayden Howerton rotating in for Smith and Simmons.

CB split time on first unit

Marco Wilson took all the first-team snaps.

Christian Matthew began the afternoon with the first unit but rookie Kei’Trel Clark also spent some series with the first team.

Receiver rotation

With Hollywood Brown not practicing, the three starting receivers were Zach Pascal, Michael Wilson and Rondale Moore.

Greg Dortch and Andre Baccellia saw time with the twos.

 

Defensive linemen working with ones

The defensive line had several players getting first-team reps.

It started with Jonathan Ledbetter and Rashard Lawrence. Leki Fotu came in for a three-man interior line.

Kevin Strong, L.J. Collier and Carlos Watkins all had first-team practice reps.

Kickoff returners

They practiced kickoffs. Receivers Greg Dortch and Davion Davis, running back Emeri Demercado and cornerback Rashad Fenton all had reps.

First-team LB splits

Kyzir White was one linebacker on the field all the time with the first team. Josh Woods and Krys Barnes both rotated series at the other LB spot next to White.

Offensive penalties

The offense committed a few penalties. There was a holding, a false start, illegal shift and offensive pass interference during 11-on-11s.

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