Cardinals Report To Training Camp With New Feel

Optimism reigns as Jonathan Gannon enters second season

Jul 23, 2024 at 03:33 PM

Darren Urban

azcardinals.com

Rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. arrives at The Wigwam on Tuesday as the Cardinals reported to training camp.

The Cardinals are new, and it goes beyond the team itself.

The business side moved into a different building down the street days after the season ended. Dozens of new employees have been hired, growing the organization larger than it has ever been. At State Farm Stadium, multiple upgrades are in the works, highlighted by the high-end new seating choices but permeating to food options, the look around the sidelines, and the presentation on game days.

But it still starts with football, and that group started their brand of "new" last season in the first with coach Jonathan Gannon and GM Monti Ossenfort.

The foundation of culture was created in 2023, but this year – with the Cardinals reporting to The Wigwam resort on Tuesday and their first training camp field work coming Wednesday at State Farm Stadium – the regime has the team it wants.

No, it's not fully built. But with a healthy Kyler Murray and a boatload of draft picks over the first two years, there is significant optimism, regardless of the on-paper result of a four-win campaign in 2023.

"You put in all the circumstances that went into it (last year), you have a new coaching staff, you have a whole new team, you have a new upstairs, you have new everything," linebacker Zaven Collins said. "You're starting from scratch. Kyler was also hurt at the beginning of the year. You have literally everything going against you.

"It's not an excuse. It's the NFL, right? But now you have a fresh start where everyone is back, everyone is healthy, guys they have brought in from all over the place, and I feel like upstairs, the coaches, they have everyone they want and you can build on that. You go into the season thinking, 'OK, we got this. It's time to go.'"

Rookie cornerback Max Melton sports a throwback Kevin Kolb Cardinals jersey as he arrives for training camp.

The first open-to-the-public practice is Thursday. (Free online tickets are needed to attend.) Pads don't come on until July 29 with the mandatory NFL ramp-up time for players, but it doesn't mean evaluations won't start immediately.

There is much to discern. How quickly rookies like Marvin Harrison Jr. and Darius Robinson can assimilate, what the cornerback rotation will look like, and who plays left guard are all among the questions that need to be sorted.

Camp at State Farm Stadium only lasts through Aug. 10 and the preseason opener at home against the Saints. After that there is a week for joint practices and the second preseason game in Indianapolis against the Colts before returning to Tempe.

"The culture is built, and everyone has fallen in line," linebacker Dennis Gardeck said. "Now it's just, 'These are the marching orders, this is where we are going.' It's more of a relaxed confidence of, 'This is where we are headed. This is what we are going to do.'"

ROSTER MOVE

The Cardinals released offensive lineman Carter O'Donnell on Tuesday with a waived/injured designation. O'Donnell appeared in five games last season.

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Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) arrives for 2024 Cardinals Training Camp on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.