Arizona Cardinals: The best and worst of camp and preseason

The Arizona Cardinals will complete the 2018 preseason on Thursday night

We saw a lot of things in the Arizona Cardinals preseason and training camp.  After the Cardinals game against the Denver Broncos on Thursday evening, its time to cut down the roster and make final preparations for the regular season.

Many will be happy to see the preseason end and get it all ramped up for real.  The Cardinals will have until Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. to submit their cuts to the NFL.

For now, here are some things we’ve learned from the time the team came back together in late July.  You probably won’t see anything Earth-shattering from Thursday night’s game other than players fighting for jobs.

Welcome back: Running back David Johnson played in preseason games one and two and looked very good running the ball.  The starting offensive line had a lot to do with that, give them credit too.

Be excited but remember it’s preseason: We saw quarterback Josh Rosen briefly.  We got a glimpse of the future when Rosen threw a beautiful touchdown pass to rookie receiver Chrisitian Kirk.  They aren’t world killers yet my friends.

Living in a bubble: We saw little of not only Rosen and Johnson, but starting quarterback Sam Bradford.  We also didn’t see much of receiver Larry Fitzgerald.  These are all good things though.

Injuries: The Cardinals lost three players to torn ACL’s.  First it was starting center A.Q. Shipley, then linebacker Jeremy Cash.  Finally they lost running back D.J. Foster.  These were all guys likely to make the roster.

Cornerbacks: We learned Brandon Williams hasn’t gotten any better.  We did learn Bene Benwikere wasn’t messing around and planning on making a run at the second starting corner opposite Patrick Peterson.

Receivers: Some guys still can’t catch a ball.  J.J. Nelson knows what I’m talking about.

The defense is exciting: Through the first three preseason games, the Cardinals have 16 takeaways.  If this is a glimpse of what we can expect to see the next four months, bring it on.