LOS ANGELES - Josh Sweat saw it all.
All of the trade rumors. All of the conversations about his injury history. All of the discourse on social media.
Truthfully, he found it hilarious.
"There was a lot of noise in the offseason, but I didn't respond purposely," the outside linebacker told azcardinals.com. "I just wanted to see how far people's imagination could take it."
Sweat laughed at the thought. It was a day for being in a good mood, after watching the Cardinals go on the road and stun the Chargers, 26-14. It was a quiet game for Sweat, who only recorded two tackles, including a tackle for loss late in the third quarter that set up a third-and-16.
That was because he was still getting acclimated to playing a game. He hasn't taken part in much 11-on-11 activity since coming off the PUP list on Aug. 24.
"I ain't know how tough it would be being my first day back," Sweat said.
Sweat said he didn't have any setbacks, and his return was right on target. General manager Monti Ossenfort said on Arizona Sports that Sweat had an offseason procedure. Sweat nor Ossenfort dove into what the procedure was on, but it had nothing to do with his knee according to the edge rusher.
"I said '(expletive) it, I'm going out there and I don't care,'" Sweat said. "I got my feet under me and started coming alive in the second half. It was fun, man, and I ain't even need to do (expletive) because the team was balling."
Dante Stills and Jordan Burch each had a sack and Jack Gibbens and Budda Baker split one together. Safety Dewey Wingard forced a fumble and also had an interception. Just like he did during the offseason, Sweat had to lean on his teammates.
They were the reason why he wants to be in Arizona, despite all the noise suggesting otherwise.
"People think I only came her for one reason and that was Jonathan Gannon, and yeah, that made the decision easier for me, but I know the guys that were here," Sweat said. "I love the way they play. I love that we want to make something bigger happen here. It's too good of a place to be where it was last year."
In a locker room with music blasting in the background and pleasantries being exchanged, Sweat was back to having fun again.
Just like he did when he saw everything online.
"I'm where I want to be."
