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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer got a little taste of the read option Sunday when the team donned pads for the first time in training camp.
“I think 1996 was probably the last time, in high school, when I was doing stuff like that,” Palmer said. “I don’t know if that’s exactly my forte, but I think now that it’s on film, coach Arians has realized that it’s not my forte.”
Arians chuckled when asked about the look.
“I don’t see Carson going around that corner very often,” he said, chalking up the practice drill to “the surprise element for our defense knowing how to defend it.”
Two of the Cardinals' division opponents, the Seahawks with Russell Wilson and the 49ers with Colin Kaepernick, are adept at running the read option.
Top pick Jonathan Cooper passed his physical Monday morning with the entire team watching and took part in Monday afternoon’s practice.
Arians said Cooper breezed through the run test -- a point that Cooper said was debatable -- and teammates were duly impressed with his on-field performance.
"Besides the fact that he hadn't been here and has fresher legs and is probably a little faster than everybody else, he had minimal mental errors," center Lyle Sendlein said of Cooper's Monday practice. "We have three offensive line coaches now. You give him time with those three guys and I think he's going to be something special."
Cooper said it was difficult not being with his teammates at the start of camp.
"Anticipation -- it kills me," said Cooper, who worried if his conditioning would suffer and if teammates were thinking ill of him. "That was really mentally taxing."
But Cooper understands that sort of pressure will be on him from here on out, given the fact he was the seventh overall pick in the draft.
"Just being drafted that high, no matter what position, you feel immense pressure," Cooper said. "I know there's a bunch of people depending on me from the people who drafted me to my family to my former teammates.
"I really put a lot of pressure on myself. Sometimes it's more than I need but i really want to succeed -- I feel like I have to succeed."
EARLY SIGNS FROM FLOYD
Receiver Michael Floyd has had terrific practices the past two days. Not that this means much in the early days of training camp, but it's better than the alternative, and Floyd has shown an early connection with QB Carson Palmer.
"He throws a great ball," Floyd said. "He has experience. I can always go to him. I'm just going to listen to him just like I listen to Fitz and go forward with that."
Running back Ryan Williams suffered what Arians termed a right knee flare-up. Williams said an MRI on Sunday came back clean, but he is still likely to miss Monday afternoon’s practice and will get a second opinion on the knee.
“It’s just to make sure because, you know, I’ve been through this once and I don’t want to go through this again,” said Williams, who missed his rookie season with a ruptured patellar tendon in the same knee and had it cleaned out in January. “I went through the whole spring without anything, and having this happen, it’s not scary but it just sucks, because I’ve worked to get to the point where I don’t have incidents like this."
Williams also missed all but five games last season with a shoulder injury.
“If I can’t prove that I can stay healthy then I might not be here,” he said.
When asked if this is a make-or-break season for Williams, Arians said: "I would think so."
Arians said right guard Daryn Colledge has a nerve issue in his right leg after getting kicked early during scrimmage drills on Sunday, but there is no structural damage. There is no timeline for Colledge’s return.
“As soon as the nerve heals, he’ll be back to full speed,” Arians said.
Receiver LaRon Byrd suffered a concussion and is out indefinitely (receiver Robert Gill is already out), while linebacker Jasper Brinkley is dealing with a sore knee and will miss Monday afternoon’s test. Linebacker Daryl Washington (neck) will return to practice on Monday afternoon.
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