6-7-12: Arizona Cardinals Bird Droppings - Offseason Stuff

Time for todays links, including some stuff on the return of Haggans, and some thoughts on how Floyd looks in the little workouts the team is doing now.

Larry Fitzgerald's absence gives Cardinals receivers reps
Larry Fitzgerald missed Wednesday's voluntary workout to attend a benefit golf tournament, highlighting just how young the Cardinals are at receiver. With Fitzgerald gone, Early Doucet (four seasons) was the most experienced receiver at practice. None of the other 10 has played no more than two seasons in the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals LB Clark Haggans takes on role as backup, mentor
Clark Haggans ended an unusual off-season, at least by his standards, by working out with his Cardinals teammates Tuesday. Haggans didn't have a contract until then, so he wasn't allowed to work out at the Cardinals facility. And no one likes to work out there more than Haggans. "I wasn't allowed in the building; I might get Tasered or something," Haggans joked. "It was different." Haggans, who will be in his fifth season with the team, is expected to assume a different role this year. O'Brien Schofield is the starter now at left outside linebacker, the spot at which Haggans started every game last season. At 35, Haggans figures to be rotational player on the field and a mentor to younger players off it.

Word From the Birds Blog | Measuring Floyd in June
Not surprisingly, I’ve already gotten a ton of questions asking, in some shape or form, "How does Michael Floyd look so far?" The standard answer, in some shape or form? "Fine." It’s easy to say you want the team’s No. 1 draft pick to be eye-popping from the get-go. That’s always the hope. I’m not about to make any money with my scouting ability, but I wouldn’t say Floyd has been eye-popping. But there are reasons for that, and it’s not necessarily a negative thing. When you think about it, most of Floyd’s strengths don’t translate to the underwear season of OTAs. His game is about going up in a crowd at getting a ball, or fighting for YAC, or cracking back on a defender to spring a teammate on a running play. None of those things are going to show up now.

Word From the Birds Blog | As volume returner, Feely tops Peterson
So perhaps you noticed the picture I took last week for a OTA photo gallery of kicker Jay Feely collecting six punted balls without dropping any. Anything to help fellow special teamers, right? Well, Feely saw the picture and used it to challenge Pro Bowl punt returner Patrick Peterson. Could the return man deluxe haul in seven and top Feely? Peterson decided to give it a go Wednesday after practice, taking "kicks" from the JUGS machine. Five worked. Peterson couldn’t pull in the sixth, leaving Feely bragging rights for now.

Fan Fest Arrives For 2012
Team will hold evening practice June 13

Rivalry Diminished
With job at stake rookie LBs Parker, Vassallo set aside ASU-UofA feelings

Patrick Peterson wants to create his own island - ArizonaSports.com
As Patrick Peterson enters his second NFL season, he does so with great expectations. Selected number five overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, the former LSU Tiger excelled as a punt returner while having some ups and downs as a cover corner. He knows that must change, and thinks it will.

Cardinals to host Fan Fest next week - ArizonaSports.com
Fans who want a first-hand look at the Arizona Cardinals can get one next Wednesday as the team hosts "Fan Fest 2012" at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Cardinals rookie Justin Bethel making the 'big jump' - ArizonaSports.com
It is hard enough to make the transition from college to the NFL, even harder when a position change is thrown into the mix. Welcome to Justin Bethel's world.

Backup QB plans: League-wide confidence - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Kevin Kolb and John Skelton haven't shown quite enough for the Cardinals to install one of them as the starting quarterback just yet. Any team would be happy to have them as backups. -- Mike Sando

(The Panthers had a confidence rating of 70 for Derek Anderson, but the Cardinals had a confidence rating of 60 for Kolb/Skelton..... WHAT?)

Zoom: Heavyweight Knockout
Cardinals DL Nick Eason took up boxing in the offseason and trimmed nearly 40lbs from his frame. The long time NFL veteran looks to transfer lessons learned in the ring to the gridiron.

Arizona Sports News:

Wade Miley, Paul Goldschmidt lead Arizona Diamondbacks to another series win
Drama suits these Diamondbacks. Could it be that simple? For the second consecutive night, the Diamondbacks let out some frustration against the Colorado Rockies, winning 6-1 in front of 23,069 on Wednesday at Chase Field. For those not scoring at home, Arizona outscored Colorado 16-1 in the two games following Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick's radio interview that criticized All-Star Justin Upton and shortstop Stephen Drew. On Wednesday, Arizona got contributions from all areas.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Justin Upton, Ken Kendrick talk, slugger out of lineup again vs. Colorado Rockies
Out of the lineup for the second night in a row, Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton said he traded text messages on Wednesday with Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick and sounded understanding of the critical remarks Kendrick made about him on the radio on Tuesday.

Arizona Diamondbacks clubhouse has a different feel
Things have already gotten ugly for the D-Backs. But it feels like it's close to getting really bad.

NFL News:

Increasingly pass-happy NFL might not be - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Perhaps you've fallen for the line about NFL teams becoming increasingly pass-happy on offense. Turns out that is not necessarily the case. It's a little embarrassing, in retrospect, to think how many times this notion has appeared as fact in these parts recently. There was my reference from the NFL scouting combine, and another two months later in relation to how teams are valuing players at certain positions. Another mention hit the blog last week. Then came the reference that led Mark from San Francisco to hit the NFC West mailbag with my favorite kind of feedback, the smart kind. Several exchanges over email led to a different conclusion: Teams are passing more successfully, but not necessarily more frequently.

Depth Perception: Guide To This Year's NFL QB Competitions - SBNation.com
From New York to Seattle, quarterback competitions are shaping all over the NFL. Which players will come out on top?

Justin Blackmon Says He's Done Drinking, Vows To 'Make This Right' - SBNation.com
It was time for Justin Blackmon to face the music on his DUI. No, not the court system, but the Jaguars community. Blackmon spoke for the first time since he was arrested for DUI at a Wednesday press conference. He was joined by GM Gene Smith and head coach Mike Mularkey.

The Browns Wanted Brandon Weeden All Along (No, Really) - From Our Editors - SBNation.com
The time honored tradition continues. After a team drafts a player, often times they'll come out after the draft and say that the player was their target the entire time, even if common sense tells us otherwise. That's the case with the Cleveland Browns, who reportedly preferred Brandon Weeden to all the other available quarterbacks.

Are Pro Athletes More Likely To Get Arrested For DUI? - SBNation.com
Sadly, it isn't unusual to hear about a professional athlete earning a DUI. But are these athletes better or worse about drunk driving than we are?

New York Giants Extend Tom Coughlin Through 2014 - SBNation.com
The New York Giants announced on Wednesday that the team had agreed to terms on a contract extension for head coach Tom Coughlin. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the extension will keep Coughlin on the sidelines through the 2014 season.

Terrell Suggs' Injury Came During Basketball Game, Witnesses Say - SBNation.com
There's a new report out from ESPN indicating that the injury suffered by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs -- an Achilles tendon injury -- came during a game of basketball. Suggs quickly denied that was the case and said his injury came during a conditioning test. And now ESPN has circled back around on the report that the injury came during a basketball game. Adam Schefter has a number of sources who report seeing Suggs go down during a basketball game on the weekend of the NFL Draft in April.

Pete Carroll Acknowledges Seahawks Broke OTA Rules - SBNation.com
It was announced on Tuesday that the Seattle Seahawks had violated no-contact rules in their organized team activities (OTAs). As a result, the NFL Management Council and NFLPA has ruled that the team will be penalized by losing two OTA days and another workout day this week.