Robert Nkemdiche did his whirlwind introduction at the Cardinals' facility today. The No. 1 pick came in just for the press conference, flying back home to Los Angeles in the afternoon. He'll return later next week with the rest of the rookies for rookie minicamp. Until then, here are some thoughts and quotes about the defensive tackle:

-- Last year's No. 1 pick D.J. Humphries came in and was almost immediately believed to be a guy who would sit and watch as a rookie. The same is definitely not the case with Nkemdiche.

"I expect Robert to come in here and be the best D-lineman we got," defensive line coach Brentson Buckner said. "I don't want him to come here and think he's being redshirted."

-- That doesn't mean he will be the best lineman, only that Buckner is expecting an effort to get there. And he's expecting the other defensive linemen to respond in kind to fight for that playing time. "There's no sleeping on your laurels, now," Buckner said.

-- Asked about Nkemdiche's reputation of taking some plays off, Buckner said he didn't see it as an obvious issue. "You show me any player in the country, especially d-linemen, that plays every snap full speed, I'll give you a million dollars," Buckner said, noting that the best college d-linemen are usually playing the whole game. "It depends on what your eyes see. ... In the NFL you're not going to play 90 plays. With our (roster), he'll play 30 plays. You take that energy and condense it to 30 plays, you tell me who wouldn't want that type of player?"

-- Nkemdiche was asked when he might start shopping for that pet panther he has said he wanted to get."I haven't had any time to think through it yet," he said, although that was cut off by both Bruce Arians ("Game 8") and Michael Bidwill ("In Charlotte") chiming in from the side of the room.

-- The Cardinals understand Nkemdiche's December incident raises questions. They aren't shy of saying they all believe it was a one-time mistake, nor are they afraid to inject a little humor.

"I made a kind of joke about it, you get a guy who falls out of a second-story building and walks away from it, that's my kind of guy," Buckner said. "Because he's not afraid of a double-team anymore, know what I mean?"

Buckner added he's watched Nkemdiche since high school and has never heard any coaches speak poorly of him.

-- When Nkemdiche first arrived at the facility Friday, after an early morning flight from Chicago, he got in, said hello to a handful of players in the building (Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu included) and then, out of nowhere, asked if it was OK if he got a workout in before his press conference. That wasn't a good idea, he was told, since, you know, he hasn't signed any contract or waiver or anything yet. He seemed a tad disappointed.

-- He looks like he will fit in well in the locker room. He greeted everyone -- from Peterson to Chris Johnson to former practice squad tackle Rob Crisp -- like he had long been teammates with them already.

-- He's been compared a bit to Darnell Dockett and he will wear Dockett's former No. 90 (which spent last season with Cory Redding). And if you look at Nkemdiche, he looks a little like Dockett, especially with his profile.