Arizona Cardinals rookies make a positive impression on Bruce Arians

A week into their first post-college jobs, Cardinals rookies are still finding their way around the team's Tempe headquarters. So it's premature to draw conclusions about their futures.

But several of the 24 rookies have made a positive impression on coach Bruce Arians.

"Oh, God, all the drafts picks are right on the money," Arians said.

Outside linebackers Markus Golden (second round) and Shaq Riddick (fifth) displayed the athleticism that prompted the Cardinals to draft them.

"They've got so much to learn coverage-wise," Arians said, "but the thing we drafted them for, being able to get in a two-point stance and press off that edge, both looked really good."

D.J. Humphries (first round), a left tackle at Florida, is beginning his NFL career at right tackle, and that transition will take time, Arians said, adding, "He can swing (play both) easily."

Running back David Johnson, the third-round pick, looked versatile in last week's minicamp.

"Very, very bright," Arians said. "The kid can do anything as far as a wide receiver, running back, fullback. He will find a niche quick because he can learn so much.

"And he was a good kickoff return guy. I like where our return game is, with (receiver) Britt Golden and those guys. We should be better there."

Three rookies who participated in camp on a tryout basis were signed, including quarterback Phillip Sims.

Rookies are allowed to work longer hours than veterans, and the Cardinals needed a quarterback for those sessions. But Sims, Arians said, has a chance to be more than that.

Arians was impressed with how quickly Sims learned the offense last week, and thinks he can compete with Logan Thomas and Chandler Harnish for the No. 3 job behind Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton.

Sims, who transferred from Alabama to Virginia to Winston-Salem, has had practice in learning new schemes.

"He had no problem listening to (the play) and calling it without it being repeated to him two or three times," Arians said. "Most rookies, they'll get the shift and maybe the formation, then they will turn their head around and ask for the play (again) and everything else.

"He was able to get it. His reads were correct. He actually changed a protection once and I was like, 'Whoa, you're up to level five already. These guys can't do that.' And he was very accurate. He got my attention. He's in the mix."

'Los being 'Los

Former Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby has a new line of skin-care products, which led him to give his opinion on the ethics of the Patriots' organization.

For those who know Dansby, the sentence above is not odd. That's just 'Los speaking his mind.

Earlier this week, Dansby appeared on PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio to promote his products, Montez Renault, and as is the case with any NFL player or coach making a public appearance these days, he was asked about the Patriots.

Dansby recalled the Cardinals game in New England in Week 16 of the 2008 season. As the defensive signal caller, Dansby could never get the headset in his helmet to work.

"You can ask anybody on that team that year. We didn't have no problems with my headset until I got to Foxboro," Dansby said. "And, man, I tell you every time I came to the sidelines, taking my helmet off trying to fix it. They was trying to fix it, they couldn't get it fixed. So we had to give hand signals, and we were dead in the water. They ran when they wanted to run, they threw it when they wanted to throw."

Host Mike Florio asked if Dansby viewed that as an accident or a deliberate act by the Patriots.

"C'mon, man. C'mon," Dansby said. "It's not a secret. They gotta do what they gotta do to win, man. They gonna do what they gotta do to win. It's just how they operate."

It's an interesting anecdote, but the problem with the headset is not the reason the Cardinals lost — 47-7 — that day.

That Cardinals team, which lost in the Super Bowl, was blown out on the road three times after Thanksgiving.

The Cardinals lost to the Patriots that Sunday morning when they looked outside their windows and saw snow falling. They wanted no part in playing in that weather. The Patriots could have given Dansby advance notice of their plays and still won.

Reach Somers at 602-444-8335 or kent.somers@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @KentSomers.