That lasted only a few games, and as Allen was trying to get his feet underneath him in the NFL, his neck injury sent him to the sideline. The idea was that he'd eventually return to play, but he suffered multiple setbacks in practice, and the Cardinals finally put him on injured reserve in November.

"It was a freak thing and tough to deal with," Allen said. "It was a little scary and shook me a little bit. At the same time, everything happens for a reason and you can only control what you can control."

The year was "a big roller-coaster ride" for Allen, but he did what he could even off the field, watching the rest of the defensive line and noting pieces of the game he wanted to incorporate once he did return to the grass.

"Zach was a guy who showed promise and did a number of different things as an inside rusher and a guy who can get upfield," GM Steve Keim said. "It's a critical offseason for him to grow and develop in that weight room, get a little bigger, a little stronger, and see where he can take off."

Words like that are encouraging Allen, although his self-motivation after so much time off was already pushing him. What kind of offseason he really gets, however, is yet to be determined.

"I'm just trying to work my ass off and prove them right, because they did take a chance on me and I'm appreciative of that," he said. "You never want to be labeled as a disappointment.