Observations from Arizona Cardinals mini-camp practice on Tuesday

The Arizona Cardinals had their first mandatory mini-camp practice on Tuesday. I was there on the scene. Here is some of what I observed. I got audio from Carson Palmer, Bruce Arians and Deon Bucannon, so other stories will follow.

• There were several players practicing returning kickoffs -- J.J. Nelson, John Brown, Jaxon Shipley, David Johnson and Britan Golden.
• Deone Bucannon intercepted Carson Palmer, but it was the only interception he threw. Be Mike Jurecki's numbers, he was 25-34 for 6 TDs -- two to John Brown. That was just in 11-on-11 drills. Some were in the red zone.
• Palmer is not being held back anymore. "The training wheels are off," Arians said after practice.
• Patrick Peterson still practices fielding punts. He could return punts this season.
• There were a few players who did not practice -- running backs Stepfan Taylor and Kerwynn Williams, receiver Michael Floyd, corner Darren Woodard, linebackers Shaq Riddick and Zack Wagenmann. Floyd flared a hammy. Arians said they are being cautious.
• The defense ran some nickel and dime. In fact, they mixed in a lot of looks. The base defense has a defensive line of Frostee Rucker, Corey Peters and Calais Campbell; a linebacking corps of Alex Okafor, Sean Weatherspoon, Kevin Minter and Lorenzo Alexander; and a defensive backfield of Patrick Peterson, Rashad Johnson, Deone Bucannon and Jerraud Powers. Mathieu would come in for nickel packages with  Peters coming out and then Jefferson would come in as a sixth DB replacing Minter in dime sets. LaMarr Woodley and Kareem Martin were the second team OLBs.
• Logan Thomas, Chandler Harnish and Phillip Sims all got work today.
• Arians said they got in an extra 30 reps because of the pace of practice. It was fast. They ran some no-huddle.
• Inside backer Darryl Sharpton is really thick. He ran with the twos.