Camp Confidential: Cards Run Into 2017

Friday afternoon at University of Phoenix Stadium the Arizona Cardinals officially starting their 2017 training camp with an early afternoon run test.

Afterwards, head coach Bruce Arians wasted no time addressing his health following an off-season which included a torn rotator cuff and having a cancerous spot on his kidney removed.

“I’m healthy, ok,” Arians said with a wry grin Friday afternoon. “So let’s get that [expletive] out of the way right now. All that is behind me and very, very fortunate to have a great doctor.”

With the Cards participating in the Hall of Fame Game against the Dallas Cowboys on August 3rd, the team opened camp quicker than past seasons. In fact, Arians said the team could have, per NFL rules, started three days earlier but felt it wasn’t necessary as he’s hoping for a different camp this summer than last, especially with one group of players.

“We will tackle more, especially the young guys,” Arians said. “We want to see them in more live scrimmage stuff. I’m really, really excited to get the season started.”

One of those young players Arians is excited to see healthy again is David Johnson who is entering his third season as arguably the best and most versatile running back in the NFL. He enters camp down a few pounds at 223. After suffering a sprained ACL in his left knee in the season finale against the Rams, he’s back to full speed and expecting big things from himself in 2017.

“I still have a lot of improving to do,” Johnson said. “We’ve been talking about it a lot, getting that 1,000 (yards) receiving. I’m going to try to learn as much as I can and improve as much as I can.”

Johnson is also looking forward to having veteran Chris Johnson back in the mix after the club announced “CJ2K” agreed to a one-year deal on Thursday. He played in just four games for the Cards last year before being placed on injured reserve with a groin injury which forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

The Cardinals first official full practice (open to the public) will be Saturday afternoon following a morning walk through at UoP.