The Arizona Cardinals put pads on and practiced Sunday afternoon. It is the last Sunday practice they have in training camp.
It was one of the more lightly attended practices of camp despite being on a Sunday afternoon.
What is there to know? Here are a few observations I made while in attendance.
Brandon Williams, Charles Clay activated but not all the way back
The Cardinals activated Williams and Clay off PUP on Sunday and they were eligible to practice for the first time. However, as Kliff Kingsbury said he wanted to begin to work them in, they were not full participants.
Williams was dressed and did some individual positional drills but did not do team drills. Clay was not on the field.
Days off for vets, perhaps mourning
Outside linebacker Chandler Jones and cornerback Patrick Peterson had the afternoon off on Sunday. That gave Brooks Reed reps with the first-team defense. Tramaine Brock practiced in Peterson’s spot and rookie Byron Murphy went in as the slot corner.
On the offensive side of the ball, receiver Larry Fitzgerald and right tackle Marcus Gilbert were not in attendance. Gilbert missed sat out on Saturday as well. However, with the passing of Darryl Drake, it might have been more of a bereavement day. Drake was Fitzgerald’s position coach for five seasons and Gilbert played for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year and knew Drake as well. Korey Cunningham practiced at right tackle in Gilbert’s place.
New offensive wrinkles
Sunday brought something to the offense I had not seen yet. They used three tight ends on multiple plays. Kyler Murray still was in shotgun and sometimes passed, but it was still three tight ends.
Murray also lined up once under center.
New drills
On Sunday, the Cardinals began practicing different things. For the first time I saw it, the quarterbacks worked on some running drills. They were essentially rollouts with sprints.
On special teams, they have worked on punts for a while. On Sunday, they added working on covering and downing punts near the goalline.
I must add that running back T.J. Logan appears to be participating in many more special teams units than ever before. He isn’t only doing returns. I have even seen him as a gunner on punts.
More explosive running
Maybe it is simply because the running game looked so bad last year, but there seems to be a difference in the way David Johnson and others are running. Johnson seemed to be missing a little explosion last season. he has been running very hard with some extra juice in camp. The same can be said about T.J. Logan, who seems to be on track for a bigger role on the team this year than in 2018.
Interceptions and touchdowns
In one-on-one drills between cornerbacks and receivers, Robert Alford made a very nice interception on a throw for Damiere Byrd. His coverage is tight and he positioned himself like a receiver to make the catch.
In 11-on-11, Tramaine Brock got an interception on a throw intended for Trent Sherfield. Sherfield turned to look for the ball late.
At the goalline, Kyler Murray executed a beautiful fade to Pharoh Cooper for a touchdown.
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