Cardinals right tackle Jared Veldheer acknowledged he took a personal day away from the team late last week to contemplate his NFL future and that retirement might have crossed his mind.

One of the reasons for that, he confirmed, was because of the results of a study that showed chronic traumatic encephalopathy, knows as CTE, was found in 99 percent of deceased NFL players’ brains that were donated to scientific research.

“There was some stuff going on and I was just trying to process it all,” Veldheer told azcentral sports during a one-on-one interview following practice on Tuesday.

Veldheer took his personal day last Thursday, the same day Ravens offensive tackle John Urschel announced his retirement at age 26. Two days earlier, the CTE study results was published in the medical journal JAMA. Two other NFL players, Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich, 33, and Jaguars left tackle Branden Albert, 34, announced their retirements on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Veldheer, 30, didn’t say how close he came to considering retirement. He just said the CTE story made him think and that other factors were also involved in needing a breather away from football.

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“It wasn’t really like, ‘Oh my gosh! This is scary.’ I wasn’t going to … It was more complicated than that,” he said. “Everyone kind of would like to know more about (CTE) just because that kind of stuff has only been brought up in the last five years or so really and there’s just a lot of stuff they need to do research-wise.

“So a lot of people are kind of in the dark right now and that part may concern some people, but at the same time there’s new helmet companies out and they’re trying to make it so those big helmet-to-helmet collisions aren’t as prevalent.”

Veldheer said he returned to practice last Friday with “a lot of clarity.” It was an emotional time to be sure, but he said there were multiple factors that played a role in him needing a mental day to get away from everything and think about what’s really important.

“It was culmination of things, kind of missing the last half of the season last year (because of a torn triceps muscle and a badly fractured finger) and just kind of rehabbing. You start thinking when you have a lot of time on your plate,” he said. “You start thinking huge-picture life stuff, you know? You normally don’t necessarily think you’re going to die.

“So you’re just trying to figure everything out. Stuff just all kind of happened and compounded and I just kind of needed a second to regroup and reflect.”

Veldheer has two years remaining on a five-year contract that will pay him $6.5 million in base salary per season.

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Starters will sit

Coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday that none of his starters on offense or defense will play in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game against the Cowboys at Canton, Ohio, adding, “It’s all about the young guys.”

Asked specifically which younger players he is most anxious to see, Arians said, “All of ’em, there’s so many. Especially on defense and special teams. I’m really anxious to see them cover and block and return kicks.”

In addition to Carson Palmer, backup quarterback Drew Stanton also will not play. Arians said Blaine Gabbert will start the first half and undrafted rookie free agent Trevor Knight will play the second half.

“He doesn’t need to play,” Arians said of Stanton. “He’s got plenty of preseason games coming. He don’t need to get hit.”

Also not playing, Arians said, will be newly-signed veteran cornerback Tramon Williams, who is still digesting the playbook.

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Injury update

Cornerback Justin Bethel, who wasn’t expected to return to practice until early next week, was a full participant on Tuesday and wore a brace on his hyperextended knee.

“I knew he’d be back. He wanted to come back sooner,” Arians said. “That was great to see him out there today. He was flying around, he was full speed.”

The news wasn’t as encouraging at inside linebacker, where veteran Karlos Dansby once again did not practice with what is believed to be a knee problem. Arians said Dansby “is fine,” but fellow inside linebacker Gabe Martin suffered an Achilles injury on Monday and could be sidelined for some time.

Another veteran inside linebacker, newly-signed Philip Wheeler, also was nicked up Tuesday, Arians said, “but we think that’s just day-to-day.”

Camping out

Camp confidential: A day after berating his players for their sloppy effort, coach Bruce Arians was largely impressed with his team on Tuesday during its second straight morning workout outdoors. “I thought this was a very, very good practice after yesterday,” he said. “I knew they’d bounce back. It’s a different setting out there. That heat and humidity can get to you quick, but we had a split squad today so we can get a ton of reps for these young guys who are going to play in this game (Thursday night against the Cowboys in Canton, Ohio.) We also got some real good conditioning work with our veterans guys, so it was a solid practice.” … Arians wasn’t happy with how the practice ended, however, pointing out that some young players had trouble lining up correctly during two-minute drills and that there were some catches made where the receivers failed to get out of bounds quickly during simulated game conditions with no timeouts. “We catch a ball and don’t get out of bounds and lose the game,” Arians said. “Those are things that hopefully you learn from in camp because if you can’t learn it after I get after you, you’re in trouble anyway.” … Arians had this to say when someone asked him how big a leap WR Jaron Brown has made from a year ago: “When he practices, he looks real good. Anything is a leap from last year (when Brown suffered a torn ACL). He couldn’t jump over that chair last year. I like seeing him back on the practice field.”

Injury report: CB Justin Bethel (knee) returned to practice Tuesday wearing a brace and performed well, according to Arians. ILB Karlos Dansby (knee) once again was not present ng the open portion of practice. ILB Gabe Martin (Achilles) was injured Monday and could be sidelined indefinitely, although Arians said there wasn’t a rupture or tear. WR John Brown (quad), WR Aaron Dobson (hamstring) and DT Ed Stinson (knee) remained out.

Quote: “It’s still a violent game. I don’t think it makes anybody play any different. When you go out there and you play, you play football how you play football.”

--Right tackle Jared Veldheer on his concerns about the recent CTE study on the brains of deceased football players.

Up next: The team leaves Wednesday for the preseason game on Thursday against the Cowboys in Canton, Ohio. The next practice open to the public is Aug. 8 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Wednesday night between 7-9 on Fox Sports 910-AM on The Freaks with Kenny and Crash.

Tuesday's practice

Practice Tuesday morning is closed to the public. The team leaves Wednesday for the preseason game on Thursday against the Cowboys in Canton, Ohio. The next practice open to the public is Aug. 8 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Highlights from Monday

Coach Bruce Arians was so disgusted he made his players run sprints at the end of practice, something he's done only one other time in his previous four seasons as coach.

That punishment, in 2014, was for fighting. Monday’s was for lousy football.

Arians engineered Monday’s practice to test his team. The workout originally was scheduled to be inside University of Phoenix Stadium in the mid-afternoon. Arians moved the practice to outdoor fields just south of the stadium, and work began at 8 a.m.

That was by design since the Cardinals’ first two games, at Detroit and at Indianapolis, kick off at 10 a.m. Arizona time. If the Cardinals play then like they practiced on Monday, they will start the season 0-2.

By 9 a.m. on Monday, the temperature was in the mid-90s, humidity in the 40 percent range, and the F-bomb count by coaches was at 113, give or take a few.

The practice lasted longer than most, two hours and 15 minutes, “and we went live (contact) almost every period,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said.

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