Sights and Sounds: Everything We Saw From Cardinals' First Day of Training Camp

GLENDALE — The Arizona Cardinals are back.

Thursday's practice marked their first of 2026's training camp session, unofficially getting football underway in the desert. The Cardinals were one of two teams to report first, being joined by the Carolina Panthers — who they'll see in the Hall of Fame Game on August 6.

Everything we saw and heard at State Farm Stadium on Day 1:

Practice Video

Practice was open for the first 20 minutes for media, which consisted of mostly stretching, individual drills and some special teams activity.

We should expect more at Friday's practice when the Cardinals open things up for fans.

Who Was There

Jacoby Brissett was indeed present today even in spite of not getting his contract reworked. Not only was he present — he also practiced. The Cardinals could be in line to strike a deal with Brissett soon, as the potential price tag for the veteran quarterback is reportedly north of $10 million.

We'll get to the injured guys in a moment, but the biggest name back and healthy was last year's first-round pick Walter Nolen III. Nolen had meniscus surgery after landing on injured reserve but should be rocking and rolling moving forward.

Other names such as James Conner, Trey Benson and Starling Thomas were on the field and doing drills today. All three were sidelined to some extent during the offseason, though Thomas was the only player out of the trio to previously get some on-field work during OTAs.

"It's awesome, and we'll be smart with those guys because they haven't played football in quite some time," LaFleur said on the return of Arizona's injured players.

"... But it's good to be back. And this is what these guys love to do, right? They love to play football. So for them to be out there participating, doing their thing, it's pretty cool."

Who Wasn't There

Before practice, the Cardinals placed four players on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list in Paris Johnson Jr., Josh Sweat, Garrett Williams and Tip Reiman. Players placed on PUP do count against the team's 90-man roster and can be reactivated at any time, though they can't be placed on the list again. This list is for injuries that happened during football related activities.

Sweat was the most surprising player on the list, as he had no prior known injuries. "Seeing him yesterday, he's fired up to be here. He was in in great spirits. He looks really good," said LaFleur. He also added Johnson (who landed on injured reserve last year with a knee injury) was just "maintenance" stuff and both may be healthy as early as next week.

Williams and Reiman were both potential early returns for camp, though neither were healthy enough to avoid PUP. Reiman suffered a nasty ankle injury early in 2025 while Williams hit injured reserve with an Achilles later in the year. LaFleur previously spoke highly of them and their chances of being healthy sooner as opposed to later.

Quote of the Day

Cardinals starting center Hjalte Froholdt on his past commitment to get boulders in his yard for lifting purposes:

"I didn't get a chance on the boulders yet. That's still in the plans. ... I don't know. I assume you can just go out and find one, but I don't know what the legalities of that is. So I might have to find a mason to like — I don't know if you're just allowed to take rocks? I don't know whose property those rocks are. Could be mine? Just head up to Sedona and get some historic rock. That'd be cool in the back in the gym. But I don't know. We'll see. I'm still in the plans of something. We don't have room enough for it yet. Wifey doesn't really like it taking up all that room, and the kids — it's a health hazard. So, right now we're taking a stand on that. So hopefully soon."

Other Note-Cards

It was interesting to see Gardner Minshew take most of the initial reps in drills and the small offense-only portion we were able to see, even with Brissett present. It appears Arizona's not just going to simply hand Brissett the starting job on a platter. LaFleur did dodge a question when asked if Arizona had an open quarterback competition, so take that for what it's worth.

People are always intrigued to see who is returning kicks. In no particular order, these were the players fielding punts today: Devin Duvernay, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Xavier Weaver and Michael Wilson.

Isaiah Adams was indeed here today after being charged with four different gun-related crimes, though the Cardinals understandably avoided speaking at length. "I'm just happy he's here," Froholdt said. LaFleur added, "He's doing good. I'm not going to comment too much on that, obviously, and I appreciate you guys not really asking the questions with that. But he's doing good, and it was good to see him."

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