Swope misses Cardinals OTA; Arians won't confirm reason
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Although rookie wide receiver Ryan Swope was not at the Arizona Cardinals practice Monday, coach Bruce Arians declined to confirm it was due to the player's head injuries suffered in college.
"We don't have injury reports at this time of the year," Arians told Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic Monday. When pressed on whether he was concerned, Arians replied, "No, he'll be fine."
These are valid observations and concerns because Swope, a sixth-round pick, suffered four concussions in his career at Texas A&M, and last week Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told SiriusXM Swope had missed practices.
Arians noted that the Cardinals have good talent at wide receiver, although there is a lack of experience after Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and Andre Roberts.
"When you go and watch the tape, there is a lot of speed over there, a lot of good things happening with those young guys," he said of the young receivers.
This contrasts with what Arians said last week about the same group after a workout that included a lot of mental and physical mistakes.
Monday he noted he has seen improvement "ever since that day. . . Funny how that works."
Special teams coach Amos Jones' father passed away Sunday, and Jones was absent from practice
Defensive back Patrick Peterson will miss a second week of workouts for family reasons, including a death. Other defensive backs missing were Antoine Cason (injury) and Jerraud Powers.
This allowed more playing time for third-round pick Tyrann Mathieu, who played with the first nickel unit and grabbed an interception.
