It's hard to tell much if anything at all from practices without pads or hits but there are still a couple of interesting notes to pass along. First everyone from the coaching staff to players are raving about how crisp and fresh the team looked in practice. Several sources noted that there wasn't a single turnover the entire weekend and possibly the best news is that both quarterbacks, Leinart and Warner looked very sharp for early practices. Also Leinart looks fully recovered and shouldn't be restricted at all this off season
- First round pick, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is already practicing with the first string, because Rod Hood strained a groin muscle. Hood's injury isn't considering serious but I love the idea of DRC getting as many reps as possible against Fitz and Q. Rodgers-Cromartie also mentioned that the team wants him to get his weight from 184 to 195, which he says won't be a problem. He did say though that the tough part would be to maintain that weight.
- The fullback position looks like a job that will be a battle through training camp. Incumbent starter, Terrelle Smith, took a backseat to Tim Castille for a portion of the weekend. Castille, an un-drafted free agent last season has recently been praised by the coaching staff for bulking up in the off season. Castille has two distinct advantages over Smith, he's 6 years younger and quite a bit cheaper. Smith will have to hope that his experience makes up for those two.
- Antrel Rolle's spot on this team may not be quite as defined as we thought. It was widely assumed that he would take over as the starting free safety this season and for the first couple of practices that looked to be the truth. During one of the practices on Saturday though, as the defense broke up into position groups Rolle went with the cornerbacks.
- The Cardinals will be put to some decisions pretty quickly once the seven rookie draft picks start signing contracts. There were 82 players at the mini-camp this weekend but rosters can't be greater than 82. Un-signed rookies aren't officially on the roster but once there starting signing two players will have to be cut.
