Parker and the Cardinals Still Focusing on Camp
August 22, 2012 | Football
Aug. 22, 2012
Ron Dugans | Teddy Bridgewater | DeVante Parker
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With just 11 days before the start of the 2012 season, sophomore wide receiver DeVante Parker is champing at the bit to get on the Cardinals' home field and take on their archrivals in Kentucky.
With so much excitement for the upcoming season, the players are starting to get antsy after almost 20 practices in the books.
Although the Cardinals have Kentucky on their brain, the coaching staff won't begin installing the UK game plan next week.
"Right now, we are in still in preseason camp," said Parker, who led the Cardinals with six touchdown receptions last year. "Over the next couple of days, we are going to start focusing on Kentucky and starting to install some plays for them."
Sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who entered the UK game in the second quarter last year, is also ready to start the preparation for the Wildcats, but knows that time will come soon enough.
"Right now, we are still preparing," said Bridgewater. "It's still U of L versus U of L. We will start preparing for Kentucky when that time comes. We are trying to put the finishing touches on our training camp installations."
Last season, the wide receiver group was very young as the Cardinals relied on three freshmen in Eli Rogers, Michaelee Harris and Parker. While the young Cardinals were very explosive, Parker knows this group can get better.
"We are all doing pretty well," said Parker of the receiving corp. "We feel like we can do better than we did last year. We just come out and work hard and do our jobs."
One of the reasons the Cardinals will be better in the passing game will be the continued development of Bridgewater. The 6-foot-3 signal caller is more comfortable with the offense and is having a solid camp. He threw for 2,129 yards and 14 scores last season, but by the looks of camp, Bridgewater should topple all those numbers if he stays healthy.
"I feel that I'm pushing my sets in the passing game," said Bridgewater. "I'm playing faster and making my decisions quicker and sticking with them."
The Cardinals began camp on Aug. 2 and are three weeks into the season. With less than two weeks to go before the opener, the players are getting tired of practicing against themselves, and are excited for preparations to begin for the opener versus the Wildcats.
"I'm really excited," said Parker. "We just want to come out and show people what we can do."
The Cardinals return to the practice fields Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
