The Cardinals wrapped up minicamp on Thursday, which means they’ll next hit the practice field at training camp.
There doesn’t appear to be any expectation that safety Tyrann Mathieu will be joining them for the first practices this summer. His rehab from a torn ACL is progressing, but General Manager Steve Keim only said “there’s a chance” that Mathieu would play in the opener.
Coach Bruce Arians seems to be preparing for an even longer absence than that. Arians told the team’s website that he’s targeting a date several weeks into the season for the return of both Mathieu and defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu, who also tore his ACL last year.
“That’s strictly up to the doctors, trainers and them,” Arians said. “I’m not going to hurry them. We have plenty of time. If they aren’t ready for the first day of training camp — which I doubt anyway, because I’ve never thought that. I had Oct. 1, or after the [bye week] as the target date for me personally. If they do something better than that, God bless ‘em.”
The Cardinals’ bye falls in Week Four, which would mean the two players would miss three games if they were ready to go at that point.