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HOT TOPIC
He's now hanging with Nick Leckey instead of Nick Lachey, but Cardinals rookie quarterback Matt Leinart says he still is having fun after a mini-camp in May, two-week rookie camp and now full-team organized workouts.
And despite his party boy image, Leinart insists he has yet to find his way to the glitzy night spots in Scottsdale.
He knows his way to the Cardinals' training facility in Tempe, for years jokingly referred to as being located at the corner of Laurel and Hardy. With the addition of players like Leinart during the past three years, the practice fields at Warner and Hardy in Tempe are becoming a more respectable address.
Fans are beginning to learn the names of even fringe players like Leckey, a third-year center who is battling for the starting job with Alex Stepanovich and possibly Reggie Wells, if he moves from left guard as speculated.
But it is players like Leinart -- and Edgerrin James, Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Bertrand Berry, Karlos Dansby, Adrian Wilson and Neil Rackers -- who have opened the eyes of a sleeping giant of a football market in the Phoenix area.
Leinart was grateful for his two weeks of rookie camp and the one-on-one coaching he got from quarterbacks coach Mike Kruczek to make him Cardinals-literate when the full team reassembled last week.
"I think it is very important for a rookie to take advantage of that time," Leinart said. "There is a lot more detail, obviously, and there's a lot more things to learn than in college. But the one advantage I think I've had is coming from (U)SC where our playbook was pretty big and it was a pro-style offense. At SC it was different that how we call things here. So that is the biggest adjustment for me. I try to understand the words we are saying, especially during two-minute and stuff like that.
"You just have to process the information and you have to study the playbook and then really the key reps for me are the mental reps, when I'm sitting back there with the script looking at what plays we're running and just following how Kurt and John (Navarre, backup quarterback) are doing things. I just try to ask them questions here and there whenever I don't understand something. That is something you just have to do. When the whole team is out here that is when we have to take those mental reps, then when we do get our opportunities, I make the most of them."
PLAYER NOTES
-- ESPN, which takes over Monday Night Football this season, has been spending a lot of time recently at the new Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals-Chicago Bears game from the $455 million facility that is to open in August will be on Monday night on Oct. 16.
Fourteen ESPN directors, producers and operations personnel were in Glendale this week exploring camera angles, where to set up indoor and outdoor studios and where to park a half-dozen production trucks.
-- Global Spectrum, operator of the new stadium, is conducting a job fair Saturday (June 10) to fill 1,300 positions for the facility. The stadium is owned by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority and managed by Global Spectrum. At present, it is known as Cardinals Stadium, but the signing of a naming rights contract is expected.
Work remains on schedule to complete two nearby freeway improvement projects before the Aug. 12 opening of the stadium. The debut is the Cardinals' preseason game vs. Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh.
-- The Cardinals have sold out their inaugural season in the new stadium, and enthusiasm has extended beyond football. Many other events -- including a golf expo, Ford Southwest Car Show and Arizona Hospitality Expo -- already have been booked.
Not only is it new and big, but also unique. It is the only stadium in North America with a retractable roof and retractable grass playing field. On non-game days, the field is rolled outdoors for sunlight and watering, leaving inside 160,000 square feet of column-free exhibition space.
-- RB Roger Robinson, a Northern Arizona University product, was named to the All-NFL Europe League team.
He led Frankfurt to victory in World Bowl XIV after setting the league's single-season rushing record with 1,087 yards, breaking the five-year-old mark of 1,057 by Mike Green of Barcelona.
Robinson, who will have Edgerrin James, Marcel Shipp and J.J. Arrington in his way in his quest for a roster spot -- practice squad is very likely -- averaged 5.1 yards a carry and had four rushing touchdowns.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
-- The Cardinals are taking at least a cursory look at CB Ty Law, a Pro Bowler who is a free agent coming off a career-high 10 interceptions with the New York Jets after 10 years and three championships with the New England Patriots.
The projected starters at cornerback are young -- second-year players Antrel Rolle and Eric Green -- and backed by aging veterans Robert Macklin and Robert Tate. There is virtually no depth beyond those four.
FRANCHISE PLAYER: None.
TRANSITION PLAYER: None.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
--C Billy Conaty (not tendered June 1).
--G Adam Haayer (not tendered June 1).
--RB James Jackson (not tendered June 1).
--FB Harold Morrow (not tendered June 1).
--RB J.R. Redmond (not tendered June 1).
--WR/KR Reggie Swinton (not tendered June 1).
--DE R-Kal Truluck (not tendered June 1).
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS: None.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED
--RB Damien Anderson: potential UFA; $545,000/1 yr, 2006 cap: $460,000.
--FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo: Potential UFA; 2 yrs, terms unknown.
--OT Jeremy Bridges: Not tendered as ERFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--DT Tim Bulman: ERFA; $350,000/1 yr.
--CB Dyshod Carter: ERFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--S Aaron Francisco: ERFA; $350,000/1 yr.
--LB Gerald Hayes: RFA; terms unknown, had been tendered at $721,600.
--LB Isaac Keys: Potential ERFA; $425,000/1 yr.
--DT Kenny King: RFA; had been tendered at $721,600.
--OL Shawn Lynch: ERFA; $350,000/1 yr.
--DE Langston Moore: ERFA; terms unknown.
--PK Nick Novak: ERFA; $350,000/1 yr.
--DE Anton Palepoi: Potential UFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--DE Antonio Smith: ERFA; $350,000/1 yr.
--CB Robert Tate: Potential UFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--QB Kurt Warner: Potential UFA; 3 yrs, terms unknown.
--OG Reggie Wells: RFA; matched Bills offer $17.6M/5 yrs, $3M SB/$2M RB.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED
--S Jack Brewer: UFA Eagles; terms unknown.
--LB Mark Brown: Not tendered as ERFA By Jets; terms unknown.
--OG Milford Brown: UFA Texans; $12M/4 yrs, $3M SB; 2006 cap: $2.75M.
--DT Kendrick Clancy: UFA Giants; $8.1M/4 yrs, SB unknown.
--RB Edgerrin James: UFA Colts; $30M/4 yrs, $7M SB/$4.5 RB; 2006 cap: $9.5M.
--WR Troy Walters: UFA Colts; terms unknown.
PLAYERS LOST
--OT Ian Allen: UFA Chiefs; terms unknown.
--DT Russell Davis: UFA Seahawks; 3 yrs, terms unknown.
--S Quentin Harris: UFA Giants; terms unknown.
--DT Ross Kolodziej: Not tendered as UFA/Vikings; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--QB Josh McCown: UFA Lions; $6M/2 yrs, $2M SB.
--CB Raymond Walls: UFA Chargers; terms unknown.
MEDICAL WATCH: No updates.
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