Arizona Cardinals Weekly Flock: Beanie Wells is Back in Town

by Hawkwind on Jun 19, 2009 7:08 AM MDT in Weekly Flocks Comment 0 comments

More photos » by Matt York - AP

School's out for the summer and it's back to football and the Arizona Cardinals for Beanie Wells. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Beanie is Back - Ohio State finally finished up last week, so Wells was free to return for the first time since minicamp the first weekend in May. "The hard thing was not being out with the football team and getting a chance to bond with the guys," the running back said. "But for the football and playing aspect, it wasn’t too bad. Coach (Curtis) Modkins made sure I stayed up on things. It’s been smooth coming back. I have kept in contact with some of the guys and they have been cool."
"Byrd is the word?" - With the Ben Patrick suspension clearly impacting the Cardinals, suddenly it creates a whole different perspective about Dominique Byrd – the most recently acquired of the team’s six tight ends.
"Ready for their close-up" - For a couple of weeks, after many of the OTAs, a player or two or three were brought into the small studio here at the facility for some TV work for use in various projects. Fans will see the shots on the Maximum Cardinals TV show, they’ll see it at University of Phoenix Stadium on the big video screen, they’ll see it in commercials. (Oh, and that’s why you don’t see Anquan Boldin or Darnell Dockett in such things, like last year’s TV spots – the time of year when you film these things is OTAs, so if the player isn’t around, he’s unable to take part).
Bill Davis shaping Cards' 'D' - Coach Ken Whisenhunt would prefer an attacking, blitzing defense on the order of the Steelers, his old team. Whisenhunt, however, isn't ready to say he wants Davis to adopt the playbook of Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, whom Whisenhunt admires. Davis isn't willing to slap a nameplate on this defense just yet, either. His staff's goal in the off-season was to expand the playbook, evaluate how the players handled it, then trim away what didn't work.
Evaluating the tight ends - With Pope and Becht, the Cardinals have two decent tight ends to start the season. If Spach is ready to go, the Cardinals shouldn't suffer while Patrick is out. Spach's availability is the great unknown about the position.
Signing draft picks - Sando takes a look at the NFC West and who's signed their draft picks so far.