Jonathan Gannon understands that mistakes will be made in practice. After all, that’s what it’s all about: practice. But the leash isn’t infinite.
The Cardinals coach pointed to a time when a player (likely on offense, as Gannon said offensive coordinator Drew Petzing would be someone to talk to about the issue) made a mistake on Wednesday and then made the same mistake on Thursday. “That’s not going to work,” Gannon said.
“I understand you’re going to make mistakes, but when you’re in the same situation and the same play or the same defensive play, you have to correct it,” Gannon said. “Not that it never happens, because it does, but that’s what you’re looking for: OK, you made a mistake, we corrected it, we helped you figure it out, blah, blah, blah, now go out and execute it the right way, because that shows me that you’re getting better.”
— Gannon said it’s an “ongoing” conversation about how much Kyler Murray will play in the preseason opener Aug. 10 against the Saints. Murray’s playing time in the preseason will be interesting to watch; of course, he wasn’t available to Gannon last preseason (and in fact, last year’s preseason QB1, Colt McCoy, didn’t make the regular-season roster).
— Gannon said he spoke with Will Hernandez and Mack Wilson Sr. about Thursday’s near miss and that everything was resolved.
— In Friday’s practice, it looked like the defense had the upper hand. That was on display early on, when safety Budda Baker (who notably had no interceptions or pass deflections last season) nearly accomplished the former and definitely the latter when he knocked down a Kyler Murray pass to Chris Moore. There was also an 11-on-11 play when rookie Xavier Thomas put a lot of pressure on quarterback Desmond Ridder (in live football it might have been a sack) forcing a quick pass that was tipped over. Linebacker Jesse Luketa wound up making a spectacular diving interception.
