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Patrick Peterson not at minicamp amid talk of unrest

Patrick Peterson appears to be unhappy.

And he was not in attendance as the Arizona Cardinals' began this week's voluntary minicamp on Tuesday.

Peterson is missing in action at a time following a Twitter trade rumor -- which NFL Network's Steve Wyche reported was shot down -- and after the eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback eliminated references to the Cardinals from his social media.

Not to mention, the Cardinals are dealing with histrionics aplenty regarding the No. 1 selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, which begins Thursday.

At his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury downplayed the situation and said he has communicated with the defensive back.

"It's voluntary. I communicated with Patrick. We know where he's at and we know what's going on. Kind of a conversation to keep between ourselves," Kingsbury said. "If he hadn't communicated and we didn't know what was going on, I think that would be a different matter. It is a voluntary camp. We know that Patrick wants to be here and wants to be a part of this team."

So what's going on with Peterson remains as perplexing as the timing.

With questions looming, it does seem, however, that Peterson is not enamored with Arizona, a team he requested a trade from during October of last season.

As one of six NFL squads with first-year coaches, the Cardinalsopened up voluntary minicamp and the key word is obviously voluntary -- players only risk fines if they fail to show up to June's mandatory minicamps.

However, put into context with Peterson's seeming displeasure with Arizona and it could be reason for alarm. After all, receiver Larry Fitzgerald was there Tuesday and so was running back David Johnson, along with free-agent addition Terrell Suggs. Most notably, also in attendance was quarterback Josh Rosen, despite all the talk of the second-year signal-caller possibly being shipped off via trade to make room for the Cards possibly selecting Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick.

"This does show that something could be up," Wyche added on Up to the Minute.

On Tuesday there was also a short-lived rumor that Peterson was going to be traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

As for his contract, Peterson has two years left on his current deal and is set to make a base salary of $11 million in 2019 and $12.05 million in 2020.

So, with the draft coming up fast, there's another storyline to monitor in the desert.

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