Cooper working to prove his worth
The Cardinals playbook provides guard Jonathan Cooper with plenty of thought-provoking material. So the seventh overall pick in the draft isn’t spending any time, yet, dreaming of ways to spend part of the four-year, $14.5 million contract he just signed.
“Right now, I’m still focused on ‘Get your plays down and don’t make mistakes,’ ” Cooper said Monday afternoon after his first practice of training camp. “Once again, it comes back to trying to prove people right and not let people down. I can’t really focus on the glitz and glamor of it until I’ve shown them I’ve earned this.”
Cooper signed his contract and immediately became the starting left guard. His performance in his first practice was inconsistent, he said, with a strong start and some mental errors in the latter half.
The Cardinals’ expectations for Cooper could not be higher. They have compared him favorably to Hall of Famers and believe his addition will bolster an offensive line that’s been greatly maligned for much of the past decade.
Cooper admitted expectations are daunting.
“You feel immense pressure,” he said. “I know I put a lot of pressure on myself. I know there’s a bunch of people depending on me, from the people who drafted me, to my family, to former teammates.
“Sometimes you get a little nervous, like, ‘Will I live up to the hype?’ I really have to sometimes tone that back and focus on my craft.”
Get your tickets here
Cardinals single-game tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday, the team announced.
Season-ticket holders will have the opportunity to purchase them beginning on Wednesday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.
Tickets for the Seahawks game on Oct. 17 and the 49ers game are Dec. 29 are available only through the “Protect the Nest” plans, which require the purchase of a ticket to an additional game.
Those purchasing tickets to the 49ers game must also buy tickets for the game against the Panthers on Oct. 6. Tickets to the Seahawks game require the purchase of tickets to the preseason game against the Cowboys on Aug. 17.
Tickets for all other games go on sale on Saturday at 10 a.m., exclusively through Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000, or at Ticketmaster locations).
Tickets won’t be available at the team’s Tempe facility or the University of Phoenix box office until Monday.
Ball placement
As important as it is for quarterback Carson Palmer to continue to get to know his receivers and establish timing and a bond of trust with them, he isn’t forgetting about his running backs in training camp.
They are all new to him as well, and when it comes to handing off the ball, Palmer is learning exactly where each and every one of them wants him to place it on running plays.
“There definitely is a rhythm in the running game,” he said. “Some guys like the ball high, some guys like the ball low. Some guys hate it when you leave it on their hip. Some guys like you to put it in there hard. Some guys like to kind of follow it in with the ball, so you’ve just got to get a feel for that and how each individual guy, how he wants it.”