Marlon Mack makes Arizona Cardinals' debut in Red & White Practice at Sun Devil Stadium
A day after being signed to a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent, running back Marlon Mack joined the Cardinals in time for Saturday’s annual Red & White Practice. He debuted with the third-team offense and almost immediately broke a couple of big runs at State Farm Stadium.
Mack, 27, spent his first five NFL seasons with the Colts before splitting last year between the Texans, 49ers and Broncos. He’s expected to contend right away for the primary backup role behind James Conner, competing mostly with Corey Clement and Keaontay Ingram for carries.
“It was a good day, man,” Mack said after practice. “The guys helped me out, teammates, guys in the running back room, my coach. Everybody’s just helping me out. I’m just trying to go out there and learn the system and go out there and do what I can do.
"I just got to let it all play out. Whenever they call on me, I’m going to try and go out there and do my best," Mack added. "The running back game is very different right now. I’ve just got to go out there and show what I can show and hopefully, I can make the team."
Prior to Saturday’s practice, coach Jonathan Gannon was asked what the plan was behind adding the 5-foot-11, 210-pound Mack to the roster.
“Yeah, really good player,” Gannon said. “We decided to add and (it was a) good move by (General Manager) Monti (Ossenfort). Again, you guys know how Monti rolls. We’re going to try to improve our team every second that we get, so I’m excited to have him here.
“I was with him in Indy. Phenomenal person, phenomenal teammate, and excited to get him acclimated.”
Asked how much he thinks Mack has left to offer, Gannon said, “We’ll find out.”
“He’s had some really good years. He’s been nicked like a lot of running backs have. But if you ask him, he has a lot let in the tank, so we’ll see.”
Mack’s addition, Gannon said, was in no way a poor reflection on Clement or Ingram.
“No, adding a good player,” Gannon said.
Conner was in Mack's draft class in 2017.
"I've been a fan of his since college. He's had a great career. You know, some ups and downs, we actually talked about that out on the field (Saturday)," Conner said. "We've both had some ups and downs in our career. But we just got the energy where we're just going to push each other."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Arizona Cardinals RB Marlon Mack made his debut on Saturday
