What to Expect from the Cardinals' Joint Practice, Preseason Game with Titans
The Arizona Cardinals took off from the Valley Tuesday as they head to Nashville for a joint practice with the Tennessee Titans.
Head coaches Kliff Kingsbury of the Cardinals and Mike Vrabel of the Titans presented some details of what the remainder of the week will look like for both sides.
Initially, the two were supposed to compete for multiple days before facing off in Saturday's preseason game.
That won't happen.
The two head coaches said their competitions will take place only on Wednesday due to injury concerns on both sides. Kingsbury said he asked Vrabel to cut down competition periods because of health.
"We'll practice against them Wednesday, it'll be limited competitive periods," Kingsbury said Tuesday. "We'll do our own thing some and then come together. But not just a knockout, drag out-type practice. I think we're both kind of in a situation where we've got some guys banged up and want to get that competitive fire going."
Vrabel laid out that there will be one-on-one work and seven-on-sevens before the teams split up. He said they will reconvene for the two-minute drill and that will be that.
Wednesday's practice starts at 7:20 a.m. Arizona time.
Kingsbury said Thursday will be scaled back, more of a mental day for the Cardinals before Friday's walkthroughs. On the schedule distributed to the media, Thursday was also listed as a walkthrough.
"At this point, let's get in there, have great competition and get out healthy," Kingsbury said.
Aside from practice, Kingsbury said there are team-building events planned for the Cardinals in Nashville. He's excited for the players to enjoy the trip while acknowledging they need to be smart.
Kingsbury joked that it won't be his role to check on bars late at night to see if his players are there.
The game will start at 4 p.m. Arizona time, and the Cardinals will run out a similar squad as the first two preseason contests. The emphasis will be on evaluating young players and those on the roster bubble to see who will cut it for the regular season.
"All the young guys just taking a big step, making sure that we can trust them going into Week 1," Kingsbury said of what is on his checklist. "We know from the start, we've got one of the best teams in the league coming in and it's gonna be a big moment. And so we need to find out if they can handle that or not."
The roster cutdown to 53 players is Aug. 30.
Kingsbury said the Cardinals have already made great evaluations on players who have stepped up this training camp and preseason. Saturday is the final chance for many players to get reps on tape to make the team or catch the eye of another franchise in the league.
