Arizona Cardinals OTAs: Daryl Washington demoted, hopes there is no extra punishment from NFL

The media had to be ready to ask linebacker Daryl Washington loads of questions when they had access to the team's first OTA session on Tuesday. Between the substance abuse suspension and his recent arrest for domestic violence, he has been in the news a lot for much more than just football.

He talked about what he could.

He wouldn't address the legal situation, according to the team's official site, as would be expected.

"I really can't talk about that right now," Washington said. "I'm pretty much limited in what I got to say but I'm going to let my attorney do his job and we'll go from there."

Due to a violation under the league's substance abuse policy, he is already going to miss the first four games of the season. When asked if with his current legal troubles could land him further league discipline, he simply said, "I hope not."

"All I can do is come out here and work as hard as I can and let everything else play out," Washington said. "I don't like to bring a lot of attention to the team.

"I wish I could've just been more aware of a lot of situations obviously on both ends of the stick with the league and myself. All I want to do is move forward from here and just try to help my team and bring positive attention to the team."

Now, it appears that his situation, combined with the acquisition of Karlos Dansby, has landed him a demotion of sorts.

On Tuesday, he was running with the second team, while Dansby played on the first team.

It makes perfect sense at the surface. Washington will not be starting the first four games of the season. Dansby will step in to start. He needs those reps with the first team playing alongside Jasper Brinkley.

At the same time, it is a great way to subtly let Washington know that even with a Pro Bowl appearance, the team is not going to sit there and pine over his absence. He is going to have to earn his spot.

For now, though, he has the right attitude -- he sees Dansby as a great addition. "I'm actually learning from him as I'm watching him," Washington said. "It's good that we brought another addition in at linebacker so (he's) a good guy to learn from and hopefully we can complement each other on the field if we can ever play together."

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