Camps continue across the country. But before Arizona's veterans even huddled up once on the field, Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald sat down with our very own Ian Rapoport and gave some awfully interesting insight to what his experiences with Carson Palmer have been like thus far.
*Thoughts on Carson: Carson is really committed to the game, really dedicated to being a good football player, a great football player, a great quarterback in this league. He holds his guys accountable, holds his guys to a high standard in the film room. He wants guys to be at their best to help him be at his best, and we have to come together to reach those goals. He's committed, we're committed and we're just looking forward to getting out there. *
In offseason together or only on field? No, actually Carson was up here two weeks ago training in Minnesota with the group. I mean, it just shows you, he can be anywhere in the world during the break, but he chose to come up and train with us and that just shows you a lot about him, his character, what he stands for and what he's about - winning. He's committed to it and that's what we all want out of a starting QB. A guy who shows the willingness to be one of the guys. He comes in and plays cards and has breakfast and does everything with everybody else. And it's fun to have that kinda leader. Down to earth and so approachable.
The rest of the interview will be posted soon.
Another reason to be bullish on Arizona's offense is the signing of offensive tackle Eric Winston. My primary memories of watching Arizona last year mostly include seeing the QB du jour running for his life on practically every play, then getting up and wincing in major pain after taking a vicious hit. Winston certainly has some miles on his tires, but he is a mauler with a mean streak who should buy Palmer a few more nanoseconds in the pocket to survey the field and find an open teammate.
Help on the way for Vikings secondary
Rookie DB Xavier Rhodes has agreed to a deal with the Vikings, and I'm excited to see what he can do to help Minnesota's below-average secondary. I liked Rhodes better than Dee Milliner heading into the draft for several reasons. Whenever I watched Rhodes at Florida State, quarterbacks don't seem to even bother throwing to whomever he happened to be covering. He reacts to plays quickly and rarely gets fooled by WR jukes. I'm a tad worried that he seemed to shy away from making contact at times, and his tackling fundamentals aren't exactly textbook. Nonetheless, Rhodes is a playmaker who I think will pop up on a few IDP radars as the season goes on. If you're proactive and looking for a sleeper DB in IDPville, you could do a lot worse.
Quick hits
» Jacoby Jones has finally passed his conditioning test and will be removed from the NFI list. Insert your favorite joke here about how the coaching staff should have forced Jones to ballroom dance his way through the conditioning drills, but it's a little bit troubling when a wide receiver shows up to camp so out of shape. Jones has never reached 600 receiving yards in any season of his career and has only caught more than three touchdowns in a season once. The Ravens will need a lot more than that from him if he is to step into the WR2 role to help fill the void left by Anquan Boldin's departure. If it doesn't work out that way, a negative ripple effect may take place through Baltimore's entire offense.
» Gus Bradley - how can you not love this guy? He's like a cross between Herman Boone from Remember the Titans and Gunny Highway from Heartbreak Ridge. Bradley is laying down the law as he tries to whip the Jags defense into shape, and for good reason - their defense gave up an average of just under 28 points per game and just over 380 total yards per game. I respect that, but just can't bring myself to put Jacksonville's defense anywhere near my draft board. There will always be better options out there.
» Mike Shanahan doesn't coach the Bengals, but there's a good chance he'd giggle with delight upon hearing Cincy's backfield of Giovani Bernard and BenJarvus Green-Ellismight be splitting carries to open the season. That shouldn't come as a huge surprise since neither one seems like a 25-carry-per-game franchise back. Both of these guys should be on your bench heading into the season, and you should really hope you're not left relying on either to produce regularly.
John Juhasz is a fantasy editor at NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnJuhasz
