Cardinals’ Gannon studies 19th century to see if team can capitalize on 2023 momentum

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Following a couple years of fairly brutal performances on the football field, the Arizona Cardinals started to look like a halfway decent NFL franchise toward the end of last season.

One might say the Cardinals gained some momentum heading into 2024.

“Perhaps,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said with a slight grin.

Gannon — now in his second year of leading the franchise — has a cerebral side to him that’s been evident throughout his tenure. During the offseason, one of his staff’s deep dives was into the concept of momentum.

The coach wanted to know why it exists, how it exists or if it even exists at all.

“That’s looking at historical data from the 1800s of war, then going to the Olympics, like Paris, then all walks of life,” Gannon said. “Tennis is a good thing, golf is a good thing to study, individual sports. Why does Xander Schauffele go bogey, par, bogey and then birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie?

“Is that momentum? I don’t know. Maybe he just hit some good wedge shots and made some putts.”

Gannon admits he’s still not sure how to feel about momentum, but he does know how he feels about the Cardinals as training camp opened on Wednesday at State Farm Stadium. Arizona finished with a 4-13 record last season, but played much better down the stretch after quarterback Kyler Murray returned from a knee injury that sidelined the two-time Pro Bowler for roughly 11 months.

“We’ve got some good players in there and they’re ready to go to work,” Gannon said. “It’s a feather in (general manager) Monti’s (Ossenfort) camp, when you go to camp and you can’t pencil in 53 guys. That’s a good thing. I really do think that. I think we couldn’t pencil in 53 guys, so there’s a lot of spots where there is open competition.”

Arizona’s offense has a chance to be very good, starting with Murray, who enters his sixth season after being the No. 1 overall selection of the 2019 draft out of Oklahoma. He’ll be joined by rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — the No. 4 overall draft pick who is expected to become an elite option right away.

The Cardinals had a 1-8 record last season while Murray recovered from a torn ACL that was suffered during the 2022 season. They were 3-5 after he returned.

Veteran running back James Conner returns after running more than 1,000 yards last season. Tight end Trey McBride returns after a breakout second season. Paris Johnson Jr. moves to left tackle after playing well as a rookie, when he started every game at right tackle.

“I guess you could say it’s a different vibe for this team,” Conner said. “But at the end of the day, that’s all talk.”

The Cardinals are in a good spot as training camp opens. Pretty much everyone is healthy and there are no major contract issues to resolve — at least immediately. Two-time All-Pro safety Budda Baker is in the final year of his contract.

Gannon didn’t want to get into speculation about Baker’s future in the desert, but made it clear how much he likes him.

“He’s everything we’re about,” Gannon said. “He practices the right way, prepares the right way. You should hear him in meetings. Asks a ton of questions when he probably knows the answer, but he’s probably asking the question because his buddy doesn’t want to ask the question.

“He’s a phenomenal person and a phenomenal player.”

Gannon said Baker’s a big part of the Cardinals’ culture that’s been built over the last couple seasons. Now it’s time to play better football. The Cardinals have missed the playoffs seven times in the past eight seasons.

“You’ve got to keep the main thing, the main thing,” Gannon said. “Football is about physicality, blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, running, making plays, execution, our style of play. All those things matter.”