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The Arizona Cardinals continued the second consecutive weekend of voluntary mini camps with a mid-morning practice on Friday.
“I think we made progress,” reflected Head Coach Dennis Green. "This is our second voluntary mini camp and the only people who can do this are the new staffs so we have Buffalo, NY Giants and Atlanta, three teams that we play who have two voluntary camps also. If it is our intention to beat those guys and go out and win those ballgames, we have to make sure we are making sufficient progress and I think we did that today.”
Although the fields were wet from a night of heavy rain, it cleared up for most of the morning practice.
“It still didn’t stop us,” said Anquan Boldin of the light rain. “I think it was important for us to get out there today and work. I think we had a pretty good practice even though the weather was a little sloppy and I think we executed the way we should have.”
“It is different for out here because you are not used to throwing a wet ball, but you have to roll with it and get after it,” said quarterback Josh McCown. “They (video crew) have to put the cover on the camera and come on out too. Everybody else keeps on working, we do too.”
Missing from practice was guard Leonard Davis (family situation), defensive tackle Wendell Bryant (school) and linebacker Levar Fisher (knee).
“Wendell worked very hard last week,” commented Green. “I think he is going to do fine. I think he really understands. I don’t think there is any doubt Wendell Bryant is going to be a player but he’s got to figure it out and I think we’ll help him do that.”
Bryant is taking a midterm today back in Wisconsin and will return to practice Saturday morning. It is not clear whether Davis will return for the rest of camp or not.
For the second camp, Green is just looking for his guys to continue to improve.
“I think this week are just trying to get a little better and keep things rolling,” offered running back Marcel Shipp. “We are trying to learn these systems right now and practice at a tempo we didn’t practice at before. It is just trying to get everything down pat right now as far as the systems we are running.”
Although Green and coordinator Alex Wood have only installed some of the offensive system for next year, they’ve made it very clear that the offense will be predicated on the run.
“What we want to do is run the football and that was established by Coach Green and Coach Wood,” shared McCown. “We already have a lot of the run game in and I think they’ve definitely made it known that is where this offense starts.”
Ask most offensive linemen and they will tell you they take far more pride in blocking for the run than in pass protection, and with the size of the Cardinals offensive line, it is definitely a unit more suited to being a run-blocking team.
“We are such a big physical unit and we are really built to run the ball,” stated guard Cameron Spikes. “I think running the ball and wearing a team out in the 4th quarter was how we won games last year and I think it’ll help us win this year.”
But no one could be more excited about the emphasis on the run game than the ball carriers themselves.
“We seem really dedicated to the run game,” said Shipp. “In our first meeting, coach told us we need to run the ball in order to win and if you run the ball well, it opens up a lot of things in the passing game. They both go hand in hand and I think once we get that accomplished this offense will be where we want it to be.”
According to running back Emmitt Smith, the Cards are just returning to the heart of football.
“The game is built off the running game, everything evolved out of the run,” pointed out the league’s all-time leading rusher. “The run sets up a lot of things. If you can run, you are going to have eight men in the box and then you can come out and do a lot of things in the passing game. Look at the good teams from last year, the Panthers ran the ball great. When the Broncos went to the Super Bowl, they ran the ball great. Even in this Super Bowl game, the Patriots ran the ball better than Carolina and it set up everything else. Passing may be cute and sexy but you don’t win a whole lot of championships doing it that way.”
Running back Damien Anderson (automobile accident injuries), defensive ends Calvin Pace (abdominal strain) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (knee), offensive tackles LJ Shelton (elbow and ankle) and Kendrick Rogers (wrist), and corners Coby Rhinehart (shoulder) and Duane Starks (knee) did not practice. Linebacker Raynoch Thompson (toe) was limited.
Chrissy Mauck, azcardinals.com
“I think we made progress,” reflected Head Coach Dennis Green. "This is our second voluntary mini camp and the only people who can do this are the new staffs so we have Buffalo, NY Giants and Atlanta, three teams that we play who have two voluntary camps also. If it is our intention to beat those guys and go out and win those ballgames, we have to make sure we are making sufficient progress and I think we did that today.”
Although the fields were wet from a night of heavy rain, it cleared up for most of the morning practice.
“It still didn’t stop us,” said Anquan Boldin of the light rain. “I think it was important for us to get out there today and work. I think we had a pretty good practice even though the weather was a little sloppy and I think we executed the way we should have.”
“It is different for out here because you are not used to throwing a wet ball, but you have to roll with it and get after it,” said quarterback Josh McCown. “They (video crew) have to put the cover on the camera and come on out too. Everybody else keeps on working, we do too.”
Missing from practice was guard Leonard Davis (family situation), defensive tackle Wendell Bryant (school) and linebacker Levar Fisher (knee).
“Wendell worked very hard last week,” commented Green. “I think he is going to do fine. I think he really understands. I don’t think there is any doubt Wendell Bryant is going to be a player but he’s got to figure it out and I think we’ll help him do that.”
Bryant is taking a midterm today back in Wisconsin and will return to practice Saturday morning. It is not clear whether Davis will return for the rest of camp or not.
For the second camp, Green is just looking for his guys to continue to improve.
“I think this week are just trying to get a little better and keep things rolling,” offered running back Marcel Shipp. “We are trying to learn these systems right now and practice at a tempo we didn’t practice at before. It is just trying to get everything down pat right now as far as the systems we are running.”
Although Green and coordinator Alex Wood have only installed some of the offensive system for next year, they’ve made it very clear that the offense will be predicated on the run.
“What we want to do is run the football and that was established by Coach Green and Coach Wood,” shared McCown. “We already have a lot of the run game in and I think they’ve definitely made it known that is where this offense starts.”
Ask most offensive linemen and they will tell you they take far more pride in blocking for the run than in pass protection, and with the size of the Cardinals offensive line, it is definitely a unit more suited to being a run-blocking team.
“We are such a big physical unit and we are really built to run the ball,” stated guard Cameron Spikes. “I think running the ball and wearing a team out in the 4th quarter was how we won games last year and I think it’ll help us win this year.”
But no one could be more excited about the emphasis on the run game than the ball carriers themselves.
“We seem really dedicated to the run game,” said Shipp. “In our first meeting, coach told us we need to run the ball in order to win and if you run the ball well, it opens up a lot of things in the passing game. They both go hand in hand and I think once we get that accomplished this offense will be where we want it to be.”
According to running back Emmitt Smith, the Cards are just returning to the heart of football.
“The game is built off the running game, everything evolved out of the run,” pointed out the league’s all-time leading rusher. “The run sets up a lot of things. If you can run, you are going to have eight men in the box and then you can come out and do a lot of things in the passing game. Look at the good teams from last year, the Panthers ran the ball great. When the Broncos went to the Super Bowl, they ran the ball great. Even in this Super Bowl game, the Patriots ran the ball better than Carolina and it set up everything else. Passing may be cute and sexy but you don’t win a whole lot of championships doing it that way.”
Running back Damien Anderson (automobile accident injuries), defensive ends Calvin Pace (abdominal strain) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (knee), offensive tackles LJ Shelton (elbow and ankle) and Kendrick Rogers (wrist), and corners Coby Rhinehart (shoulder) and Duane Starks (knee) did not practice. Linebacker Raynoch Thompson (toe) was limited.
Chrissy Mauck, azcardinals.com
