The offense prepares for another goal line play.
On Thursday, for the first time since the Cardinals opened training camp a week ago, everyone was in uniform. Due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, players that signed new contracts with their old team or a new one, and players who restructured current contracts with their teams were sidelined. This of course included the man everyone wanted to see, quarterback Kevin Kolb. The team did not disappoint in their first day back.
All videos from practice I have seen have shown Kolb running the offense looking as comfortable as he could have in just one two hour session, finding Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Roberts on numerous passes. “That was great today, for me to be back in that live period” said Kolb.
One of the best plays of the day was a 20 yard back of the endzone throw by Kolb to Fitzgerald. While the ball was in the air, Fitz effectively abused rookie corner Patrick Peterson, and made a beautiful one handed catch, already displaying the natural chemistry between Kolb and himself.
In his post practice press conference, you could hear the excitement in Kevin Kolb’s voice in being back on the field. ”Our better plays today were instinctive ones, where I’m not thinking too much, not worried about too much protection, I’m just going back to playing”.
Coach Whisenhunt also enjoyed having his whole team on the field, and he wasted no time putting that to use. For the first time in camp, the players were put into a live goal line period, in which the offense dominated. In eight plays, the defense only made two stops on running back Beanie Wells and rookie back Ryan Williams. Williams had a spectacular play, in which he looked as though he was going to be stopped behind the line, but he dropped his shoulder pads and dove directly into a defender, pummeling him backwards, on his way to practice paydirt.
During that live goal line session, the defense look a tad rusty. “It’s our first time back on the field in so many months, there’s going to be a learning curve”, explained newly acquired linebacker Stewart Bradley. I’m sure that will improve due to the physical nature of their practices. They have a good mix of youthful talent and veteran experience across the board that will translate to success.
The Cardinals have a long way to go in order to improve from the team they were a year ago, and they seem to be well on their way. They have some catching up to do, installing a new quarterback, but with practices like that, when they play Carolina in Week One, they’ll be ready to roll.
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