Navarre's focus on football field

azdad1978

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Navarre’s focus on football field

By Darren Urban, Tribune



John Navarre isn’t sure why people feel how they do about him. The former Michigan quarterback, drafted Sunday in the seventh round by the Cardinals, won games in college and put up good numbers.

But he was rarely spoken about as one of the college game’s best and was the 12th quarterback selected in the draft.

"I wasn’t out to prove to anybody in the media or critics about my misconceptions," Navarre said. "I wanted to prove to a ballclub I can play, that I was capable of winning football games, and that I have the mentality and toughness to play."

He’s coming to a good place, since coach Dennis Green has been known to develop quarterbacks. And the Cardinals are ripe for a young quarterback to fit in, since third-stringer Preston Parsons has never played in a game. There is no certainty long term over starter Josh McCown or backup Shaun King, either.

"I’m very excited to be under a coach like (Green)," Navarre said.

READY TO LEARN
Receivers coach Robert Ford took new receiver Larry Fitzgerald out to see the Cardinals’ practice fields, which are in beautiful shape. Ford was telling Fitzgerald how the grass fields are second to none in the NFL when Fitzgerald started bouncing on his toes on the grass and then gave his coach a jab as if he were trying to get out of bump-and-run coverage.

Fitzgerald was also asking about a hand technique he was trying to learn.

"I said, ‘Larry, we’re not supposed to be talking football right now,’ " Ford said. "He said, ‘I want you to know, please be patient with me, I ask a lot of questions.’ "

EXTRA POINTS
Green said fourth-round pick Alex Stepanovich will start at center and sixth-rounder Nick Leckey will start at guard in practice, although both players can play both spots. Most scouting services had the two ranked in the top three centers available, behind Virginia Tech’s Jake Grove. . . .

The Cardinals will hold their first full minicamp, including rookies, starting Friday.
 

SMAC

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I like the selection of Navarre but is he just another Kent Graham? For some reason that is who I think of when I see Navarre.
 

az jam

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Navaree reminds me of Brad Johnson who Denny also picked very low and took several years to develop.
 

JeffGollin

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I like the selection of Navarre but is he just another Kent Graham? For some reason that is who I think of when I see Navarre.
I think that's a legitimate concern.

I used to liken Graham to the dinosauer - in whose body it took several minutes for a thought-command to be transmitted to the key part of the body needed to execute the command.

While Navarre is big, strong and physical (and a bit slow to react) like Kent, what we won't know til he spends some time with Denny and Kruschak is whether his apparent slowness is due to reflex issues or whether it has to do with fixable problems such as reading defenses and having the confidence to react more instinctively.

If it's the latter, then we've picked up a steal.
 
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