Once upon a time, long before Monti Ossenfort was the GM of the Cardinals, he was a quarterback. He was a two-year starter for the University of Minnesota, Morris, where he completed 411-of-923 passes for 4,263 yards and 21 touchdowns over four seasons, two as a starter.

Ossenfort put his playing days in the rear view mirror long ago.

But there he was on Thursday, chucking passes in helping the defensive backs work on their ball skills. (We won't talk about how it might get into a quarterback's head that he's intentionally throwing interceptions.) Ossenfort, like predecessor Steve Keim, is out at practice on a daily basis. But Ossenfort has been all over the place when practice is going on, sometimes stalking the sidelines, sometimes getting on one of the practice fields, always seemingly with a particular purpose.

"It's different for me, but I like it," cornerback Marco Wilson said. "It shows he's involved, that he cares about the team, and that he cares about what is going on and he's seeing exactly what's going on. It shows he's really invested."

Of course, the throwing on Thursday might just have been to help out where he can -- the more you can do, as is always said.

Given that the secondary is beat up and cornerback in particular will be a priority in the offseason, it can't hurt to see those guys up close anyway.

So as the throw from the GM comes your way, does it make a player nervous?

"Nah. You can never get nervous when the ball comes your way," Wilson said. "Can't get nervous."

As for Ossenfort's college stats, Wilson smiled. "It's all good," he said. "It still worked out for him."