Several Notable Absences from Day 1 of Cardinals OTAs

No major surprises here as Anquan Boldin and Darnell Dockett were among the notable absences from today's opening day of organized team activities. Neither was really expected to show since they've both voiced complaints about their contract situation. Chike Okeafor was also absent but, according to Coach Whisenhunt, his absence was for a personal matter, of which the staff knew about ahead of time. Whis was very careful to throw the key word voluntary into his statement about Q and Dockett, even though everyone knows that every player if fully expected to be in attendance.

"I'm excited about the guys who are, (here)," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "I would be less than honest if I said if I wasn't disappointed that Anquan and Darnell weren't here. But once again, these are voluntary."

Of the players who were in attendance receiver Jerheme Urban (right foot), safety Adrian Wilson (heel), linebacker Monty Beisel (back), tight end Leonard Pope (ankle),  cornerback DeMario Minter (sports hernia), DE/OLB Bertrand Berry (triceps), and center Al Johnson (knee) did not practice. The only real surprise of the group is Johnson who recently had surgery to clear up some pain and swelling that he experienced during the off season. He will likely not practice during OTAs but should be back to 100% by training camp. Johnson's absence isn't a monumental loss in OTAs considering offensive and defensive linemen can't do much more than learn the play book since contact is prohibited.

Perhaps the surprise of the first day was that Edgerrin James was actually in attendance. He said that he's planning to attend the first and third weeks of organized team activities (there are four total).