DENVER -- Kyler Murray smiled when the subject of this week's joint practice with the Broncos was brought up.
"I'm looking forward to it, honestly," the quarterback said. "Probably a little too much."
The practice of joint practices has become an annual part of the Cardinals' preseason. The heat prevents teams from coming to Arizona and getting work in, but under Jonathan Gannon the Cardinals make the effort to extend a preseason road game.
Gannon's first year, the Cards went to Minnesota. Last year it was Indianapolis. This year, Denver.
The Cardinals also held a joint practice in Tennessee in Kliff Kingsbury's final season of 2022.
It isn't a preseason game. But it's close to it, Gannon said, albeit in controlled form. Quarterbacks aren't getting hit. No one is getting tackled. The Broncos do have one of the best defenses in the league, however, led by former Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. It's the Mile High City, so altitude will take a toll. The temperature on Thursday during the morning practice is going to be in the 90s.
"You're going against different schemes, different people," Gannon said. "It's a new stress to your central nervous system."
Gannon said the coaching staff won't decide how much guys will play in Saturday's preseason game against the Broncos until after Thursday's practice. It would not be a surprise to many of the starters be done with preseason games, especially if Gannon is satisfied with what comes from Thursday.
In some ways, starting center Hjalte Froholdt said, the joint practice can be better. A mistake in the heat of a play isn't going to get the quarterback sacked – or worse – at a practice.
"You get a chance to try some stuff out on another opponent without any major ramifications," Froholdt said.
The Cardinals are still a few weeks from a game that counts. It's easy to want to get to that first kickoff, Froholdt acknowledged.
But embracing the time and chances like the trip to Denver is important. Froholdt spent time at Tuesday's practice discussing with right guard Isaiah Adams how to handle a certain double team. The defensive front they were seeing was one they will see maybe four to eight more times before the season.
Froholdt said that's four or eight more times to improve in the scenario, a "great time to refine."
"It's the best time of the year to be able to go out," Murray said, "and just be out there with the guys doing what we love."
