The first day in pads brought a different edge to Cardinals camp at State Farm Stadium, and Mike LaFleur made it clear that’s exactly the point as Arizona moves into the second phase of training camp.
The early stretch had been more of a “passing camp” to open things up, but once the pads came on, the tone shifted. The run game could finally be evaluated with a more realistic feel, and the day carried the kind of collisions that come with a more physical practice.
LaFleur explained how he wants that contact to look, and just as important, how he doesn’t want it to look:
"There's going to be collisions out there, obviously, and when the ball carrier is going, particularly between the tackles, and there's opportunities to thud up frontal, they'll do that. And then they'll let them go, and then the shots will come.
"I told the guys if anyone in the hole has a shot to thud them up, thud them up. I don't want to see 11 guys thudding up.
That's not realistic. So let them go, and then go get your shot on the ball so that you're 1: you're training yourself and 2: you're training the [running] backs.
If it's out in open space or a ball's thrown over the middle, those guys got to be pros. I mean, they're the elite of the elite out there, and guys got to know how to practice.
"Typically the guys that don't know how to practice are the guys that just can't stick around because they're not capable of it. I look forward to seeing them be physical but being smart at the same time."
The Cardinals will be back on the field Wednesday, July 29, with practice set for 4:00 PM.
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