Arizona Cardinals mini-camp: Team ends camp early, some observations from practice

It's later than it should be, but the Arizona Cardinals had mini-camp practice today. I was again there on the scene. Here are some of the highlights.

• There was a final practice scheduled for Thursday. Head coach Bruce Arians said the work they did all offseason was great and cancelled the final practice. We are done until training camp.
• There were only two guys who worked on punt return drills -- rookie J.J. Nelson and John Brown.
• Carson Palmer was sharp on 11-on-11 drills. He was 23/28 throwing the ball. He was almost picked off once when Sean Weatherspoon dropped an interception. Andre Ellington got the most looks, getting eight receptions.
• In red zone drills, which were 7-on-7, Palmer only went 10/19, but threw four touchdowns. Two went to John Brown, one went to Andre Ellington and one went to Ifeanyi Momah, although the defensive players were  furious there was no flag for offensive pass interference. The team had refs there and there was no flag. In my opinion, it didn't look like a foul, but there was a lot of contact from both Momah and Tony Jefferson, who was covering him.
• Patrick Peterson was very active. He knocked down several passes intended fro Larry Fitzgerald, including three in the red zone. Two were in the end zone.
• Linebacker Zack Wagenmann, tight end Troy Niklas, linebacker Shaq Riddick, defensive lineman Ed Stinson, receiver Michael Floyd, cornerback Darren Woodard and running back Stepfan Taylor sat out with injuries. Niklas tweaked his ankle -- the other ankle, not the one he had surgically repaired. Stinson had a tight hamstring. Kerwynn Williams did position drills, but no team work. Markus Golden and Alani Fua did some work early but did some work in some drills.
• Instead of Rashad Johnson and Deon Bucannon as the "ones" in base sets, it was Tyrann Mathieu and Tony Jefferson who got those reps. Tyrann Mathieu again was lined up as the nickel guy in the slot.
• Logan Thomas was intercepted once by Jimmy Legree.
• It appeared that Brittan Golden was getting reps ahead of Jaron Brown.
• In terms of post-practice comments, Arians hinted at no third QB on the roster if no one steps up.
• D.J. Humphries had a great week and Jonathan Cooper has had a great spring.
• Larry FItzgerald was pleased about his role in the offense and the no-huddle. He is getting more balls thrown his way.
• David Johnson did really well in the reps he got because Williams and Taylor were out. Arians said "an injury is an opportunity for someone."

Again, I have a bit of audio from the two days of practice. I will have more content in the next few days. Plus, there have been player interviews on the radio. Gotta catch up with those.