Arizona Cardinals put on show for fans at Red & White Practice

The Cardinals' annual Red & White Practice took place Saturday afternoon in front of a few thousand fans at State Farm Stadium, who waved flags, cheered successful plays and heard from owner and president Michael Bidwill and head coach Jonathan Gannon prior to the start of the 110-minute training camp session.

Bidwill kicked things off by presenting a framed Pro Bowl jersey to star safety Budda Baker.

"Budda, keep up the great work. You do an amazing job," Bidwill told Baker and crowd.

Gannon took the microphone and welcomed the public.

"Week 2, I expect everyone to get loud, loud, loud," Gannon said, referring to the Cardinals' second regular season game and home opener Sept. 17 against the New York Giants.

Marlon Mack makes Arizona Cardinals' debut in Red & White Practice at Sun Devil Stadium

The Cardinals ran something of a dress rehearsal for the preseason opener next weekend at home against the Denver Broncos. They had the first, second and third teams on offense and defense going against each other in the team portion of practice and asked assistant coaches to watch from the press box above the field as well as their vantage point on the field while working on communication with headsets.

Gannon wouldn't commit to a starting quarterback yet with five weeks until the regular season opener, adding that he doesn't yet know who is going to start at any position at present. But Saturday offered some possibilities, with Colt McCoy running the No. 1 offense at quarterback and Clayton Tune with the second team.

James Conner opened at running back and Noah Togiai was the tight end. Zach Pascal, Rondale Moore and Hollywood Brown were the wide receivers and the offensive line consisted of rookie right tackle Paris Johnson Jr., right guard Will Hernandez, center Hjalte Froholdt, left guard Elijah Wilkinson and left tackle D.J. Humphries.

"It definitely felt like a game. The tempo was up, intensity was up," Togiai said. "We're just trying to be fast and physical. ... We're striving to do that every day."

Highlights of the team portion included third-team quarterback Jeff Driskel dropping a deep pass into the arms of wide receiver Brian Cobbs, Tune finding Greg Dortch over the middle for a touchdown, tough running from Conner, some slashing runs from newly signed running back Marlon Mack with the third team, McCoy's touchdown pass to impressive rookie Michael Wilson, a near interception from safety Isaiah Simmons in the end zone and what would have been a tackle for loss from outside linebacker Zaven Collins after he shed a blocker.

Conner leaped over Baker in the corner of the end zone to catch a touchdown during the two-minute offense drill, which was arguably the top play of the day.

"Just trying to put myself in the moment," Conner said. "Just embracing it. These moments aren't going to last forever."

Running back Keaontay Ingram didn't take part, as he is dealing with an unspecified injury. Quarterback Kyler Murray watched practice from the sideline and later joined teammates signing autographs.

Tight end Zach Ertz and Murray are among those on the Physically Unable to Perform list.

"Working day by day, and hopefully we start to get closer to making those decisions to take them off (the list). But with all those guys, until they're physically and mentally ready to play, then we'll leave them on there," Gannon said. "But I like where they're all trending and they're doing a good job."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: An early look at Arizona Cardinals' first-team offense, from looks in practice