Oh, what a difference a year makes.
How many times have we heard that since March?
For Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, he’s relieved he had a year at the helm as he navigates his team through the COVID-19 chaos.
Without a doubt, said year makes a difference.
“That would have been really tough, coming in trying to figure things out year one without an off-season,” he explained after the Cards’ first practice Wednesday morning at State Farm Stadium. “So, we’re still not, obviously, where we want to be as a football team, as a coaching staff, as an organization. We have a long way to go. We understand that.”
“But, at least having some familiarity with our processes, with our staff…it’s helped. We have lofty goals moving forward and it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
Another cornerstone entering his second season, on the field, is quarterback Kyler Murray who has bulked up and is ready to build on his NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year performance in 2019.
“I’m excited for him,” Kingsbury explained. “Last year was kind of survival mode for him the way we thrust him in there. He was the guy from Day One and had to learn on the fly. That’s not easy.”
With all that being said, he could feel the extra energy during Wednesday’s workout.
“More than anything, guys were just excited to be out there and going full-speed,” he noted. “We’ve been walking through and I know guys have been antsy…it was fun. I know it’s going to continue to be a slow build over the next three or four days until Monday when we put the pads on.”
Cards’ Camp continues Thursday and Friday before the team takes Saturday off.
They open the regular season against the NFC Champion 49ers in the Bay Area on September 13th.
