Cards happy ‘leader’ Peterson shows up

When the Cardinals lined up to warm up at voluntary OTAs on Monday, all eyes were on the only player who had his face covered.

Wearing a tinted helmet as he stretched, Patrick Peterson showed up at the practice facility for the first time since news broke that he will miss the first six games of the season for violating the league’s drug policy involving performance-enhancing drugs.

His teammates spoke highly about him while he was gone. On Monday, that continued.

“It’s great,” Chandler Jones said. “Pat is our leader. He’s the leader of our team, and it was tremendous for him to come out there and do what he does best.”

Cornerback Robert Alford got to know Peterson years ago through Tyrann Mathieu, and has shared how excited he was to play alongside Peterson since he joined the Cardinals this offseason.

“Pat is a close friend of mine, and for him to be out there with me and doing the things with me – even on the sidelines, we’re talking through what we see,” Alford said. “I feel like it’s real big. He’s been a Pro Bowl cornerback, and that’s something that I haven’t got yet, so I feel like he can help me out a lot.”

During the portion of the voluntary OTAs open to the media, Peterson looked to be vocally involved in drills, pointing out what he saw. That insight will be invaluable to the defense, particularly as the Cardinals swing back to a 3-4 scheme.

Jones doesn’t see Peterson’s impact stopping with just tactical advice. He sees Peterson’s presence boosting both sides of the ball.

“Not just the defense, but for our team,” Jones said. “We needed that fire, so it’s good to have him here.”

Teammates raved about Peterson, but they weren’t going to go so far as to vouch for things they hadn’t see. Peterson made it a point to note that he had intercepted Kyler Murray on his first day back. He’s had a number of big picks in his career, but Jones wasn’t going to comment on this latest without first verifying.

“I didn’t see that. It might have been during 7-on-7s, but I was with the Big Uglies,” Jones said. “I didn’t see that, but we’ll check it out on film.”

As far as actual games, Peterson won’t return until Oct. 14, a date he rattled off twice. He says he’s not exactly counting down to it, but certainly looking forward to it.

There’s a balance right now of Peterson getting his reps without taking away from whoever will actually start the first six games. Peterson doesn’t worry too much about that. That’s up to coaches.

“Yeah, we’ll work through that,” coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “He’s not going to be playing for five months or six months, or whatever it, so we’ll have a plan through training camp to make sure we’re getting him enough reps to stay sharp, but also get other guys ready to go.”

Peterson is getting a chance to see those guys up close.

He raved about rookie Byron Murphy, particularly the second-rounder’s “quiet confidence.”

He liked what he saw out of David Amerson for the Cardinals last year and has admired Tramaine Brock Sr. from afar as well. Those three will all be in that mix for second starter, with Alford likely securing the other spot.

Still, even with Peterson sidelined for the first six games, his place on the team is clear.

“We all know as far as DBs, team,” Brock said. it’s his