Arians turns up heat on Cardinals
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians thought his team's training camp may be too soft. So he turned up the heat.
The Cardinals are staying in a nice hotel and were practicing nearby at University of Phoenix Stadium, indoors.
Arians wanted to have his team practice at least three times outside during camp, so beginning late last week they did so, in temperatures that hovered around 100 degrees.
"Thirty-one other teams are outside," he said. "Some are in the heat; some are not. But we needed to get some of that. You've got to go out there and get some other distractions, other than being tired, and the heat is a major distraction."
Arians also has been unhappy with running back Ryan Williams' continuing problems with his right knee. Williams has missed nearly a week of training camp with knee pain and irritation, apparently linked to a torn patella tendon injury suffered in 2011.
Two rookies, Stepfan Taylor and Andre Ellington, are distancing themselves from the pack, as is Alfonso Smith, Arians said.
The pack, Arians refers to, might have just one member: Williams. The only other back on the roster is Rashard Mendenhall and he's entrenched as the starter.
"It's hurting him extremely not to be on the field competing for the job, because those other guys are doing so well," Arians said.
--Team correspondents for The Sports Xchange contributed material for this story.
