Arizona Cardinals set for unique week of practice in a new setting

Following Monday's short practice in Tempe, the Arizona Cardinals can look ahead to two days of joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings Wednesday and Thursday at the shiny Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, their five-year-old team facility.

They'll travel to Minneapolis-St. Paul Tuesday, and after the two practices play their preseason finale Saturday afternoon (morning in Arizona) at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Some highlights from Monday's practice, head coach Jonathan Gannon and player news conferences:

Colt McCoy the Week 1 starter at quarterback?

Gannon was asked if Colt McCoy is going to be the starting quarterback for Week 1 of the regular season. As he has all month, Gannon didn't reveal much.

"When we need to name the starters, we'll name the starters. But he's doing a good job. I thought he operated well. I think that he's getting more and more comfortable with what we're asking him to do," Gannon said. "He's obviously played a lot of football, but I like where his game's trending."

McCoy played two series on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs, completing 5 of 8 passes for 25 yards and running the ball once for six yards.

Clayton Tune got the lion's share of the snaps at quarterback, entering early in the second quarter and playing deep into the fourth. Tune was 12 of 24 for 133 yards and led the Cardinals in rushing with 35 yards.

"It was a good learning experience for him. They give him a lot of different looks. Reps are gold in the NFL, especially for rookies, especially for rookie quarterbacks. So I thought he took a step forward, and I like where he's going," Gannon said of Tune. "But it was good to see him make a couple throws in there. And some things, like everybody, that he needs to clean up."

Bound for Minnesota

Gannon said he'll use the trip to get the team used to "standard operating procedures" for road trips. He planned to speak with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell again on Monday to firm up the plans for practice.

Quarterback Kyler Murray will go on the trip, Gannon said. Murray is still doing rehab for his knee injury, and it didn't sound like he'd be ready to practice this week.

"Still working every day and doing everything he can mentally, but yeah, he'll travel with us," Gannon said.

One of the objectives of the trip north will be to try to keep everyone injury free.

"I'm excited to go against Minnesota, because Kevin and I see it kind of similar what's acceptable and what's not. And they educate their guys, and we educate our guys. So we'll get good work out of it," Gannon said. But they'll be running hot these next couple days because you're playing a new system, a new opponent, things like that, but we're gonna run our stuff. And hopefully we learn and can teach off of it and get our guys better."

Offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. looks forward to contact against another team that isn't his own.

"I'm anticipating that it's gonna be the same kind of energy that we have here in our padded practices," he said. "So I'm excited, except now you're not going against your teammates so you don't have to pull back as much."

Roster cuts looming

The week will be critical for players who are hoping to make the Week 1 roster, and those who aren't assured of a spot on the team will have to make the most of the two practices and whatever playing time they get on Saturday. Practice squad consideration is also at stake.

NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53 players by Aug. 29, then practice squads can be set the following day.

"You want to keep everybody but you can't, you know, so you've got to make sure the decisions that we make in the next couple of weeks will be for the betterment of the team, and what we think is the right thing to do for everybody," Gannon said. "But yeah, those are tough days, I mean, because you love everybody in there, and you appreciate all their hard work and their effort and what it takes to go through an offseason or go through a training camp. They've made a lot of sacrifices, and we appreciate that."

Ingram explains TD 'celebration'

Cardinals running back Keaontay Ingram got the opportunity to explain what happened on his touchdown celebration that wasn't, as it appeared that right after scoring the team's only touchdown Saturday, he face-planted against the wall of the end zone below the seating area.

Ingram laughed at himself.

"Oh man, I was kind of you know, trying to get a little pump fake and then I slipped over the cord and ran into the wall," Ingram said. "I got a lot of noise talk from my family and also this morning, too, so they kind of beat me up a little bit."

Related: Cardinals' Isaiah Simmons called out for lack of effort vs. Chiefs

Quick outs

• The Cardinals released former Arizona State punter Matt Haack Monday, leaving Nolan Cooney as the only punter on the roster. The team brought back running back Stevie Scott, who signed with the team on Aug. 10 and was released a few days later. Offensive lineman Lachavious Simmons was waived with an injury designation.

• Jeremy Walls is the Cardinals' new Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the team’s business operations, it was announced Monday. The 44-year-old Walls joins the Cardinals after spending the last 10 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, most recently as the organization’s Senior Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer since 2020. In that role, Walls led the team's corporate partnerships, marketing, ticket sales and operations, member services, suites and food/beverage operations. Walls has also worked for the Diamondbacks and Suns in ticket sales.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals gear up for preseason matchup at Minnesota Vikings