http://azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=1404
Monday, Sept. 1 Practice Report
Guard Leonard Davis returned to full contact work today.
The Arizona Cardinals held a practice Monday morning at the Cardinals Training Facility in Tempe for the first time with its 53-man roster.
“This day always has a different feeling to it,” said Head Coach Dave McGinnis. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was pretty keyed up for this. From what we’ve done to the off-season to what we’ve done now, the way we came thru the preseason with this group, I am looking forward to Wednesday and getting out here heavy, heavy into what we are doing. We worked Detroit today and that is all it is. Detroit, that is all we are thinking.”
It was the first practice in several weeks that featured the starting offensive line in team drills as guard Leonard Davis participated in full contact work. Davis’ hand is still casted, but McGinnis thinks he’ll be ready to go on Sunday for the regular-season opener against Detroit.
”He looks to me like he is,” offered McGinnis on whether Davis is ready. “He practiced today and he’ll have all week to practice with it. He’s fully ready to go. He’s been itching to go. He’s wanted to go early than the doctors let him, so I would say yes.”
With center Frank Garcia absent from practice as he serves a 4-game suspension, the training camp experiment with Pete Kendall moving from guard to center seems to have taken on a permanent basis.
“I am getting more and more comfortable by the day,” observed Kendall. “I always was a loud mouth so making calls isn’t a big deal for me. The mental part is not too bad. It is still a bit of a challenge physically but I’ll get there.”
“Hopefully, we can have two in a row like that,” added Kendall of having the starting lineup working together on Monday. “That would be a first since training camp. Leonard is going to have to overcome his hand for a week or two, but he moved around well for someone who hasn’t played, and Pete (Hoener) has things pretty simplified upfront so we should really just be able to pick up pretty easily.”
Coming off a 4-0 preseason, the team has high expectations for the season opener.
“Statistically, I think it is very important to get a win,” said Kendall. “60-70% of teams that win on opening day go to the playoffs and conversely 60-70% of the teams that don’t win on opening day, don’t go to the playoffs. Regardless, I know it is fairly significant that if you have aspirations for the post season that you get a win under your belt right away.”
The production of the wide receivers will play an important role in Sunday’s match-up. The Cardinals entered camp with 14 receivers and eventually trimmed that number down to six on the 53-man roster – Anquan Boldin, Bryan Gilmore, Bryant Johnson, Kevin Kasper, Larry Foster, and Jason McAddley. Even combined, the group has limited experience, but McGinnis still feels like the group will have more production than last year.
“First of all, we drafted two excellent players,” explained McGinnis. “Larry Foster came in and did very well. I really liked the way Kevin Kasper responded with the challenges we put out there to him so I am very confident with our receiver corps. We’ll probably suit five guys on Sunday and have roles for everybody and what they do. I think Bryan Gilmore has picked up right where he left off once he got the confidence back with his leg. I think we’ll have even more effective role players than we did last year at that position. Let’s be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot of production coming out of there because we were just trying to plug people in and play a game. Now, Jerry has a plan for all six of these guys.”
Marcus Bell (knee) did not practice.
Monday, Sept. 1 Practice Report
You must be registered for see images
Guard Leonard Davis returned to full contact work today.
The Arizona Cardinals held a practice Monday morning at the Cardinals Training Facility in Tempe for the first time with its 53-man roster.
“This day always has a different feeling to it,” said Head Coach Dave McGinnis. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was pretty keyed up for this. From what we’ve done to the off-season to what we’ve done now, the way we came thru the preseason with this group, I am looking forward to Wednesday and getting out here heavy, heavy into what we are doing. We worked Detroit today and that is all it is. Detroit, that is all we are thinking.”
It was the first practice in several weeks that featured the starting offensive line in team drills as guard Leonard Davis participated in full contact work. Davis’ hand is still casted, but McGinnis thinks he’ll be ready to go on Sunday for the regular-season opener against Detroit.
”He looks to me like he is,” offered McGinnis on whether Davis is ready. “He practiced today and he’ll have all week to practice with it. He’s fully ready to go. He’s been itching to go. He’s wanted to go early than the doctors let him, so I would say yes.”
With center Frank Garcia absent from practice as he serves a 4-game suspension, the training camp experiment with Pete Kendall moving from guard to center seems to have taken on a permanent basis.
“I am getting more and more comfortable by the day,” observed Kendall. “I always was a loud mouth so making calls isn’t a big deal for me. The mental part is not too bad. It is still a bit of a challenge physically but I’ll get there.”
“Hopefully, we can have two in a row like that,” added Kendall of having the starting lineup working together on Monday. “That would be a first since training camp. Leonard is going to have to overcome his hand for a week or two, but he moved around well for someone who hasn’t played, and Pete (Hoener) has things pretty simplified upfront so we should really just be able to pick up pretty easily.”
Coming off a 4-0 preseason, the team has high expectations for the season opener.
“Statistically, I think it is very important to get a win,” said Kendall. “60-70% of teams that win on opening day go to the playoffs and conversely 60-70% of the teams that don’t win on opening day, don’t go to the playoffs. Regardless, I know it is fairly significant that if you have aspirations for the post season that you get a win under your belt right away.”
The production of the wide receivers will play an important role in Sunday’s match-up. The Cardinals entered camp with 14 receivers and eventually trimmed that number down to six on the 53-man roster – Anquan Boldin, Bryan Gilmore, Bryant Johnson, Kevin Kasper, Larry Foster, and Jason McAddley. Even combined, the group has limited experience, but McGinnis still feels like the group will have more production than last year.
“First of all, we drafted two excellent players,” explained McGinnis. “Larry Foster came in and did very well. I really liked the way Kevin Kasper responded with the challenges we put out there to him so I am very confident with our receiver corps. We’ll probably suit five guys on Sunday and have roles for everybody and what they do. I think Bryan Gilmore has picked up right where he left off once he got the confidence back with his leg. I think we’ll have even more effective role players than we did last year at that position. Let’s be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot of production coming out of there because we were just trying to plug people in and play a game. Now, Jerry has a plan for all six of these guys.”
Marcus Bell (knee) did not practice.
