As the Cardinals ramp up for their first preseason game, the two-minute drill was something to watch as coach Steve Wilks celebrated his birthday. The first two units each managed to score touchdowns.
The first team looked like they'd run out of time. Reaching the defensive 7-yard line, Sam Bradford's pass attempt was nearly picked off by cornerback Jamar Taylor -- to the point where Taylor did pushups after the play. There had only been four seconds left on the clock before that play. One second still remained, and Bradford drilled tight end Ricky Seals-Jones for the score.
When the second unit came in, quarterback Josh Rosen also directed a touchdown drive, with undrafted rookie Trent Sherfield (having a very nice camp) made a back-of-the-end-zone grab for the score.
-- In the first 11-on-11 work Wednesday, coaches did not seem all that pleased with how the defense was looking overall. But when the next period of 11-on-11 work happened, it was offensive line coach Ray Brown looking for more out of his unit. At one point, Bradford came over to his first-team blockers to deliver what looked like a pep talk or message of some sort.
-- After sitting out Tuesday, defensive linemen Robert Nkemdiche and Olsen Pierre were both back at practice. Linebacker Josh Bynes didn't work Wednesday, but it looked like it might just be a rest day and he was heavily engaged with working with fellow linebackers Haason Reddick and Deone Bucannon (who remains sidelined with his knee issue) working when they could during special teams periods.
-- WR Chad Williams, LB Airius Moore and CB Jonathan Moxey remained out.
-- Cornerback Deatrick Nichols made an interception late in the session on Kanoff. Nichols has earned some praise and is an undrafted rookie to watch in preseason games.
-- Kanoff has gotten a significant amount of work of late in 11-on-11, with veteran Mike Glennon not much at all (at least in the open practices), so we may be seeing a lot of the Princeton rookie against the Chargers.
