Cardinals training camp notes: Carson Beck struggles continue

The first few days of training camp have not been kind to Carson Beck.

On Day 4 — Sunday, July 26 — Beck again struggled in 11-on-11 drills, repeatedly missing open receivers. This has now become a trend for Beck in the early going.

His worst miss of camp happened two days earlier, when he came nowhere close to finding an open Jeremiyah Love on an intermediate pass in the end zone. On Sunday, the story was similar: When attempting passes more than 10 yards downfield, Beck often missed by wide margins.

Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett pushed back on concerns surrounding Beck’s arm strength — a talking point during draft season — but pointed to other areas in which the Cardinals ’ coaching staff is working with their rookie quarterback.

“Tying his feet in and getting the timing of it … are things that we just can't get enough for him,” Hackett said.

Beck has spent the first few days of camp primarily working with the second-string offense, but will be pushed further down the depth chart next week, as Jacoby Brissett re-integrates with the first team. With two veterans ahead of him, he appears to have a complicated path to playing time, as the Cardinals aim to make good on their third-round investment.

First-team offense bounces back

The start of camp looked shaky for the first-team offense, with the defense seemingly a few steps ahead.

Sunday, though, was more fruitful. On one sequence, Gardner Minshew hit consecutive downfield passes to his top two wide receivers. On the first play, Michael Wilson sprawled out for a diving catch on a go route. On the next, Marvin Harrison Jr. beat Sean Murphy-Bunting in press coverage, hitting pay dirt on a slot fade.

Brissett will resume working with the starters on Tuesday, coach Mike LaFleur said, but it was nonetheless encouraging to see the offense clicking, with wide receivers finding space downfield.

As for the offense split, it has been remarkably even though the first two days of 11-on-11 work that were open to media. Trey McBride has seen nine targets, with eight apiece for Harrison and Wilson.

Darius Robinson off to strong start

Robinson got home for one sack in Friday’s 11-on-11 work, then followed that up with another strong day on Sunday.

On one early snap, he blew past left guard Isaac Seumalo to generate quick pressure. On another, he forced a checkdown by using his hands to beat right guard Isaiah Adams.

Robinson, though, has been a training camp standout each of the past two seasons, without translating those performances when it matters. The 2024 first-round pick has generated just 12 pressures on 380 pass rush snaps across his 21 career appearances, good for a 3.2% pressure rate. By contrast, Walter Nolen created 15 pressures on just 99 pass rush snaps as a rookie.

Still, a strong start is encouraging for Robinson. It’s part of a larger trend for the Cardinals’ defensive line, which has outperformed the offensive line on both the first and second units so far in training camp.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals training camp notes: Carson Beck struggles continue

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