The first three weeks of training camp are now in the rear-view mirror for the Arizona Cardinals who held the annual Red-White practice Saturday afternoon in front of 18,000 fans.
The ticket allotment sold out yesterday, so the Red Sea is ready for some football. The question is, will the Cardinals be better at playing in front of them when the regular season rolls around?
"We want to get better on that field, there's no doubt," head coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "We start off week one against a really good team here, that'll be packed stadium and lots of energy, so we better figure it out quick, but we talked about different things we want to do this season that'll hopefully help."
There was a big applause when Kyler Murray ran out on the field, ending his 5-day quarantine window with COVID. Unfortunately for the fans, Murray was a bystander during the football portion, though he did sign autographs for an hour after practice.
"We didn't want to rush him back out there after five days of not doing anything, so once we knew he had COVID, we set the schedule and just wanted to ease him back in and get around the guys, and then Monday I expect him to at least do something," Kingsbury said.
The Cardinals hope to get Hollywood Brown, Rodney Hudson and others back next week as they continue to be ravaged by camp injuries. The most serious — and what could be a much bigger deal considering DeAndre Hopkins 6-game suspension — is Antoine Wesley who is walking around with a noticeable limp. The Cardinals will know this week whether Wesley will need surgery or if rehab will be enough for his injured hip/groin.
The thin numbers at wide receiver only heighten the important of Rondale Moore heading into his second season.
"Whatever they have in store, whatever the plan is, I'm ready," Moore said Friday. "My approach stays the same, just going out there working hard and continuing to stay in the playbook and whatnot."
A lot of good receivers, only one football.
Wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson was asked who the biggest whiner is when it comes to wanting the ball, and he said it is Moore.
Even Kingsbury felt Moore's frustration from last year.
"I'll get the passive aggressive text late, when I'm asleep," Kingsbury joked. "It's one of those deals, I know what he can be and I know how talented he is. I know what he's been his entire career to every team he's ever played on, and then all of the sudden his role is minimized more than he anticipated. Yeah, I felt the frustration, and rightfully so. He's a tremendous player."
Kingsbury added that's the type of player he wants.
"I mean, I just try to come to work every day and show that I want to be a player in this league," Moore said of yearning for a bigger impact.
Third round pick Cameron Thomas is also trying put his stamp on this team in his rookie season. A raw talent out of San Diego State, Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Thomas is still learning how to play with his power.
"There was a little bit of adjustment period," Thomas said of coming to the NFL. "Every day I feel faster and everything around me starts to feel like it's slowing down, so [I'm] definitely getting more comfortable with things."
A new member of the Cardinals this year, but one that might be very important to the defense’s success, is Nick Vigil. The former Minnesota Vikings inside linebacker is an established veteran that can help ease the burden of the Cardinals young linebackers.
Once upon a time, Vontaze Burfict helped bring Vigil along.
"He was one of the best football players I've ever been around," Vigil said of the former ASU star. "Very intelligent, very smart guy. He taught me a lot about how to play football."
"Nick's been a nice addition for us," Joseph said. "He's a veteran player that's played a lot of football. He hasn’t stuck a lot of places because they keep drafting first round picks behind him, but he's always played good football. He's long and smart, he can cover it, he plays all three downs, he's called it before. He played for [Mike] Zimmer in Minnesota, so it's a similar system. He's picked it up fast and he's helping us."
If you recall week two last year when the Vikings visited State Farm Stadium, Vigil was the one with the interception of Kyler Murray that he returned for a touchdown.
"Everywhere he's been, he's been highly productive and very cerebral, very conscientious," said Kingsbury. "He's been a great addition to our team. I've really enjoyed getting to know him, and he's been productive so far."
Training Camp brings about some scuffles. Isaiah Simmons has gotten into it a few times with big-name players. Simmons and Murray were chirping at each other towards the end of practice.
Will Hernandez is no stranger to those. He got into a dust-up with JJ Watt earlier this week. The former New York Giant has been tabbed the new enforcer on the offensive line by Justin Pugh.
"We just get bored out there and sometimes we gotta, you know, have a little fun with it," Hernandez joked. "At the end of the day we're all brothers here. We all love each other, and we all have the same goal in mind which is to win, and we're doing that by getting each other better."
With the Red-White practice in the books, the Cardinals now head into game week on Monday with three days of practices before flying to Cincinnati for their preseason opener on Friday against the AFC champion Bengals.
