GLENDALE, AZ — The Arizona Cardinals will put on the pads for the first time this training camp on Tuesday morning, a week and a half away from their first preseason game.
Kliff Kingsbury said of the first five practices of training camp, they were looking for that rapport and chemistry to be built with a lot of new faces, both veterans and young guys. One more veteran will jump into the fold, defensive lineman Corey Peters worked out Monday and was signed to a one-year deal to re-join the team.
“We'll continue to bring in different position groups, work them out and try to upgrade the roster throughout, but it was good to see him. I know everybody's excited to have him around today,” said Kingsbury. “He looks good, really good moving around. I think he's in good shape and looked healthy.”
That other vet that everyone is waiting on is joining Tom Brady. No, Larry Fitzgerald isn’t going to Tampa Bay, but rather on Sirius XM radio for a once-a-week show throughout the season. So, does that mean anything to Kliff about Fitz’s playing future?
“That’s the first I heard of it,” said Kingsbury. “So no, like I said, even with Fitz, you never know. I'm sure he'll be in shape and ready to go if he gets that itch.”
Speaking of the wide receivers that are here at camp, year one of DeAndre Hopkins was as good as advertised. Hopkins said he doesn’t think he’s reached his peak yet, considering the many quarterbacks he’s played with. As he grows with Kyler Murray, he said the sky’s the limit, and that he and AJ Green can form quite the 1-2 duo.
“To be honest, I probably haven't played with anybody of his caliber,” Hopkins said of Green. “Larry, obviously, is a Hall of Famer, I got to play him later in his career. Andre Johnson, I got to play with him later in his career. AJ still has a lot in the tank.”
“You can't just focus on me, having someone like that they can win one-on-one nine times out of 10, and he showed what he can do so far in camp. Honestly, I don't think he's missed a beat. I think he's gotten better from what I've seen of him a couple years ago just coming off of injury a couple years ago. To me, I think he's at the peak of his career.”
While the media was talking to Hopkins today, news broke that both Chris Paul and Cam Payne were re-signing with the Phoenix Suns on multi-year deals.
“I love Chris Paul,” said Hopkins. “Chris Paul is one of my favorite players. I went to his camp when I was in like ninth grade. The history of Chris Paul, it goes back with my respect for him. Obviously didn't get the job done, but they got some good guys over there. I'm pretty sure it's gonna go hard this offseason. You know, who knows? Hopefully we can get another superstar over there to help those guys out and build a super team, but it's a good team. It's a great team.”
The Cardinals certainly took notice of the fever pitch among Valley sports fans during the Suns run. They’ve made it clear that they hope to tap into that same magic this season.
