The Arizona Cardinals revealed a rendering Tuesday of a training facility they intend to build in North Phoenix that is scheduled to open in 2028. (Rendering courtesy of Arizona Cardinals)
TEMPE – A dichotomy of focus by the roster and brass has defined the Arizona Cardinals this week. Both groups are enacting efforts for the betterment of the organization, just with different time frames in mind.
For as much as the shorter-term center of attention among the players and coaching staff will be preparing to face the winless Tennessee Titans this Sunday, the Cardinals’ leadership focused on the long-term advancement of the organization.
The organization announced Tuesday that rather than build a new training facility at the team’s current Tempe site, as was planned, the team will be moving locations, with a new facility planned in Paradise Ridge in north Phoenix, west of Scottsdale Road and north of the Loop 101.
The team hopes to open this new facility and team headquarters in 2028. Plans for the location include three natural-grass outdoor practice fields, a full-sized turf indoor field, an expanded and modern locker room and state-of-the-art facilities for various player and team needs, such as dining areas, meeting rooms and strength-training areas.
These facility developments are huge news for the organization, and likely a shot-in-the-arm for the Cardinals in terms of attracting and retaining talent, both on the field and at the facility. Per the 2025 NFLPA report card, the Cardinals players gave the team’s food and dining area a D-, which was 30th in the NFL, locker room an F-, dead last in the league, training room a D-, which was also last, and weight room an F, which was somehow 31st.
These new plans can be interpreted as an extensive attempt by Cardinals ownership to rectify these issues, and a new, cutting-edge facility can be a differentiator for players when deciding their future.
The training facility news offered a peek into the future. In the present, the Cardinals are focused on Week 5.
Given James Conner’s season-ending foot injury in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers, running the ball was always going to be a challenge for the Cardinals as this season progresses.
Coming off a 2024 season that saw them tied for second in rushing yards per carry and seventh in total rushing yards, Arizona has struggled on the ground through four weeks, sitting 15th in rushing yards per carry and 22nd in total rushing yards.
With an 89-yard rushing performance against their NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football fresh in his mind, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon is eying more tweaks on a fundamental level than he is wholesale changes as he looks to get his team’s run game going.
“You’ve got some technique things that come up,” Gannon said. “Some schematic things that come up that are off here or there, a little bit. Playing penalty-free. We’ve just got to uptick everything that we are doing to get the run game going.”
The Cardinals specifically have struggled with unblocked defensive players wrecking running plays before they even have a chance to develop, which Gannon believes ties in to these adjustments he sees on the horizon along his offensive line.
“That (unblocked players) is talking into the point of making sure we are pointed the right way,” Gannon said. “We have to make sure that we’re all on the same page when we’re making calls at the line of scrimmage.
“That’s been good to us in the past, but it’s not where it needs to be right now. Very correctable. We just have to make sure that we don’t have unblocked players that we think we have accounted for that are not accounted for.”
When the Cardinals move from their training facility in Tempe, it will be at a location that borders Phoenix and Scottsdale, west of Scottsdale Road and north of the Loop 101. (Renderings courtesy of Arizona Cardinals)
Offensive line improvements aside, it does complicate things that Trey Benson, the player expected to fill the void left by Conner’s injury, was not seen at practice on Monday. It is unclear what the prognosis or timetable is for Benson, who was not on the field for the Cardinals’ final series against Seattle, but news on those fronts is expected later this week.
“Just taking it (Benson’s injury) day by day,” Gannon said on Monday afternoon. “We will have the full injury report on Wednesday.”
If Benson does indeed miss time, and the Cardinals are searching for a spark, they could turn to Michael Carter, who played in three games for Arizona late last season and was elevated to the 53-man roster Monday from the practice squad.
“I love Mike,” Gannon said. “He loves playing ball, and he does an excellent job for us. He got a standing ovation today (after being elevated). Mike’s an integral part of this team.”
Astute observers noticed that during Monday’s practiceCarter was in a camouflage number 40 jersey, a change from his standard number, 22.
This temporary change was due to a Cardinals’ policy related to their practice squad: perform well on the scout team and you might get to don Pat Tillman’s number in practice the following week.
“He (Carter) was a baller in practice two weeks ago,” Gannon said. “He earned that award during San Francisco week, and he didn’t get to wear it last week because we didn’t practice, so he is wearing it this week.”
Now almost a quarter of the way through the regular season, the Cardinals are not the only ones entering Week 5 with improvements on their mind.
Their Titans have struggled to open the year, sitting at 0-4 and last place in the AFC South.
Rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the number one overall pick in the 2025 draft, was blunt in his assessment of his team’s offensive performance in their 26-0 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
“Everything (is not going right offensively), from interceptions to penalties to an incompletion by me or a bad ball,” Ward said after Sunday’s loss. ”Once we get past the 50, we are not continuing the drive.
“We are not doing enough to help those guys (on defense) out. They are playing their a– off every Sunday, and we are not doing our part.”
The Cardinals are undeterred by the Titans’ start to the season, recognizing the difficulties that playing against a quarterback like Ward poses.
“It is a big-time challenge (facing Ward),” Gannon said. “He is a good player.”
Ward underscored the need to turn things around in Tennessee, with a sense of urgency palpable in the quarterback’s answers on Sunday.
“We are 0-4,” Ward said. “At this point, we have nothing to lose. We have dropped a quarter of our f- – -ing games, and we have yet to do anything. We have to lock in, especially myself.
“We preach about wanting to be better, and we are doing that, but it has to show up on Sundays. It hasn’t shown up yet, but it has to next week.”
Arizona will be facing a Titans team fighting to save their season, and they mustn’t be fooled by their record coming in.
“When you turn on their tape, it catches our guys’ attention,” Gannon said. “I know their record and where they are at right now, but they’ve got really good coaches, really good players, and we’re going to have to play probably our best game to date to beat them.”