Jacoby Brissett was back on the field for Cardinals mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. The quarterback didn't do much, other than stretch with his teammates and then watch the other three QBs go through the practice.

But it was still meaningful.

"It was exciting to see him here," tight end Trey McBride said. "Guys want him to be here. We would love to have him in the building but he's working through some things on his own and we totally understand that. You could just tell the presence he brought today, it was awesome."

Brissett did not participate in any of the Cardinals voluntary work this offseason as he reportedly looked to have a contract upgrade. The contract remains the same for now; Brissett avoids fines by appearing at the mandatory minicamp. But he and outside linebacker Josh Sweat – who was also absent from voluntary work, in his case because he prefers to train on his own in the offseason – rounded out the Cardinals roster for what is scheduled to be two practice days.

Coach Mike LaFleur said it was "good to see both those guys" and added they were in meetings. Their participation would be evaluated daily, the coach said, but it made no sense to have them practice Tuesday after missing so much time.

"You're not going to throw someone out there," LaFleur said. "When guys get here for Phase One, Day One, we don't practice, so why would I do that to another guy? That seems negligent on my part."

In Sweat's case, LaFleur noted that Sweat has long worked on his own in the offseason. When he coached in San Francisco and Los Angeles, there was a player or two who worked on his own away from voluntary OTAs.

"(Josh) is in a good spot," LaFleur said. "He looks really good. I'm not worried about Josh Sweat at all."

While Brissett is on the sideline, LaFleur said he is focused on evaluating the rest of the quarterbacks: Gardner Minshew II, Kedon Slovis and rookie Carson Beck.

Brissett carries weight with this teammates, however. Wide receiver Michael Wilson, who exploded into his first 1,000-yard season with Brissett throwing the ball, said recently he was "forever indebted to him."

Left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., also speaking after Tuesday's practice, emphasized the joy he had seeing the quarterback in the building.

"That's our guy through and through," Johnson said. "We're behind him 100 percent. It's good to see him."