Yesterday marked the first day that the Arizona Cardinals came together as a team with an eye towards the 2009 season. It's been less than two months since the Cardinals came up short against the Steelers but on Monday the focus wasn't on the past. The teams' voluntary strength program started up and the facilities were filled with Cardinals, both old and new faces. There is still a month before they actually hit the practice field for organized team activities (May 1st-3rd), but for the 46 guys who took part in the first day of workouts, it was all business.
There were some notable absences, although none were particulary surprising, including Larry Fitzgerald (vacation), Anquan Boldin, Darnell Dockett (both want new contracts), Edgerrin James (expecting to be released) and Kurt Warner (recovering from surgery). This was also the first chance for some new faces to meet new teammates and Bryant McFadden, Jason Wright, Keith Lewis and Anthony Becht were all on hand for the festivities (check out the photo gallery).
With still over five months before the start of the regular season, it's nice to have some feeling of football back in town.