Arizona Cardinals' Zach Ertz to return to football as soon as this week, coach says

A new week of practice begins for the Arizona Cardinals after their first preseason game, an 18-17 win over the Denver Broncos on Friday, and the wrapping up of training camp.

The next time the team will take the field at State Farm Stadium is this Saturday against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Some highlights from Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon's Monday comments from the team's Tempe facility, where it will resume practice this week:

Zach is coming back

Gannon confirmed that tight end Zach Ertz will be taken off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list this week, which means he can soon practice with the Cardinals. Ertz suffered injuries to two major knee ligaments in a game last November, ending his 2002 season.

Ertz left the state to meet with his surgeon last week, Gannon said, and performed well on all of the tests administered to see if he was ready to be cleared to play. Ertz, Gannon said, texted his coach immediately to tell him the good news.

"We'll get him out there going," Gannon said. "He's fired up and he wants to play football.

"Anytime when you're coming off of an injury, the reps are gold. He's played a lot of football. So he's seen a lot of things... but like I said way back when, he knows what he needs to get himself ready to play," Gannon added. "He needs time to do that to feel mentally and physically ready to play. So he's ready to go."

Defense reviewed

Gannon gave his defense a fairly positive review from Friday. He said they ran well and the effort was good but could always be better, and that players hit hard and affected the quarterback at times.

"Some things we've got to get cleaned up, though, because as in a game, if the one time that you're off with technique, and the ball finds you, it's gonna cost you. So those guys gotta play really clean out there, but they're doing what we're asking them to do. They're trying to do consistently what they're coached to do. And if they can keep getting better at that, we should improve as a defense."

In and out

The Cardinals will spend some practice time inside of their "bubble" on Tuesday, but outside as well. The indoor facility has new lighting and new turf, which Gannon is happy about. He checked it out on Monday.

"A little blend of both. That was an adjustment for me, because like I said that heat is real and it's the first time I ever had to deal with true weather in training camp," Gannon said. "It's one of the things we have to deal with but then we don't have to deal with it later in the season. ... We can't control the weather, but we'll develop a good plan for that."

Gannon wanted to get the players in the heat to get acclimated to it and go through a "dry run" of their planned schedule for Week 1 of the regular season.

Minnesota trip nears

The Cardinals will travel to the Minnesota Vikings' practice facility in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area next week for joint practices prior to the preseason game on Aug. 26 against the Vikings. Gannon worked out a preliminary plan with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell at the spring owners' meetings and spoke to him again Monday morning to update the evolving situation.

"Those two days of practice are huge for us," Gannon said. "It'll change before we get up there probably two or three times more, honestly. But hopefully, we get out of it what we want to get out of it."

Gannon said joint practices have been very helpful with other teams he's been part of in the past. Ideally, he'd like to hold those prior to two out of three preseason games instead of just one.

"I feel like it's valuable for your players with a little less risk of injury, too, because remember, you've (both teams) got to keep them healthy," Gannon said.

Read more: Cardinals delete video poking fun at Russell Wilson

Quick outs

• The Cardinals should get a few players back from minor injuries in practice this week, Gannon said, and he credited the team's performance staff with doing a good job working to keep players healthy.

• The team placed cornerback Rashad Fenton on injured reserve and released running back Stevie Scott on Monday.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 4 things Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said after 1st preseason game