Zach Ertz: “I’m excited to be an Arizona Cardinal right now”

The Arizona Cardinals held a press conference on Tuesday consisting of HC Jonathan Gannon, TE Zach Ertz, and LB Zaven Collins.

Gannon noted that the Cardinals held their first team meeting earlier in the morning, and while it was optional, Gannon was pleased with how many players showed up ready to go.

Zach Ertz in particular is excited to see this team in action in the fall. Ertz only played in 10 games last year before enduring a season-ending knee injury.

“This place screams of so much potential, and it’s up to everyone in the building to maximize that. I’m excited to be an Arizona Cardinal right now.”

Minicamp will begin next week for Arizona; it is their first chance to be on the grass all together for the first time ahead of the 2023-2024 season.

When asked about backup QB Colt McCoy, Gannon noted that Colt is doing great and ready to go. Additionally, Gannon did admit that there is currently a competition going on for who will be named the Week 1 starter.

Gannon specifically called out James Conner as he watched Conner “do curls with my bodyweight.” Conner averaged 60 yards per game last season in the 13 games he played in.

The Cardinals are coming off a 4-13 record, but this has not concerned Gannon, as he remains optimistic about their chances in 2023.

“With the guys we have right now in the room, I feel good about being consistent this year.”

In Zaven Collins portion of the press conference, he spoke on what it meant to have a defensive-minded coach leading the team.

“The energy today was nice, kind of setting a tone for the culture and how he expects things to be. He had a big input today on the rule; it was one team, two. You, talking about putting the team before yourself… Getting the ball rolling, setting the culture to what it has to be, it was awesome.”