Arizona Cardinals camp observations Day 5: Marvin Harrison Jr. makes stunning catch

The Arizona Cardinals reached the midway point of training camp with a bang. As pads went on in their fifth practice of the year, Marvin Harrison Jr. stole the show.

In a one-on-one drill on July 28, Harrison made a stunning, one-handed catch against rookie cornerback Denzel Burke.

Burke played tight coverage on the play, but Harrison used his newfound strength to work out of press coverage and explode downfield. Then, at the catch point, he leapt up, spun back toward quarterback Kyler Murray and pulled the ball in with his right hand.

My goodness, Marvin Harrison Jr pic.twitter.com/LolZwFJ0ns

— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) July 28, 2025

The play was the Cardinals’ highlight of training camp through five days. It also wasn’t Harrison’s only impressive moment of the day. On one rep, he shrugged off contact from Max Melton to haul in a contested catch on a slant route. On another, he beat Will Johnson on a curl, creating separation over the middle of the field.

“Things slow down so you play faster,” offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said. "'Cause you're thinking less, you're a little bit more confident in what you're doing, what you're seeing on the other side of the ball. So I think you've seen that in these early couple days of camp."

Harrison, though, also showed some of the miscommunication with Murray that was evident last season.

On one go route, Murray threw far behind Harrison, seemingly looking for him to turn around for a back-shoulder catch. And on a red zone play in 11-on-11 drills, Murray threw Harrison’s way before the receiver managed to turn his head around. The ball sailed over him and through the back of the end zone.

Afterward, Murray called it the offense’s first bad day of training camp. “Felt like one of those days where nothing could go right,” Murray said.

Here are some other observations from the day:

Deep rotation at linebacker

The Cardinals' rotating cast at linebacker continued on Day 5. This time, it was former first-round pick Zaven Collins seeing some snaps in the middle of the field.

Collins moved from off-ball linebacker — his drafted position — to edge rusher when Jonathan Gannon arrived in 2023. That is still his primary spot, but this most recent practice was an indication that he could also see time at his old position.

He’s also just one small piece of the puzzle there. Next to middle linebacker Mack Wilson, the first-team defense has rotated through Akeem Davis-Gaither, Cody Simon, Owen Pappoe and now Collins.

They’ve also shown a heavy dose of dime looks, which put six defensive backs on the field. In those looks, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson typically plays as a third safety, sacrificing a linebacker.

Garrett Williams comfortable at outside corner

Last season, Garrett Williams — the Cardinals’ most productive cornerback — played just 11 snaps at outside corner, almost exclusively working as a nickel corner. But in training camp, he's had more work on the outside, especially after Starling Thomas V suffered a torn ACL last week.

The Cardinals’ expected starting defense features Max Melton and Will Johnson at outside corner, Williams at nickel and Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson at safety. And at times, that has been the look.

But they’ve also rotated through different options. Williams has played some on the outside in base defense (four defensive backs), with Melton and Johnson rotating through the other spot. He’s also gotten time on the outside in nickel looks, with Taylor-Demerson playing the slot.

It appears that the Cardinals value the ability to show different personnel packages. And Williams says he’s comfortable on the outside, which is where he played in college.

“Really, it was nickel and safety that was hard to learn coming here,” Williams said. “'Cause I never played it. So it's just getting back into it. Kinda like riding a bike.”

Rookie has rough day at center

In their past two practices, the Cardinals have bumped sixth-round pick Hayden Conner up to the second team offensive line, working him as the center. It’s essentially a new position for Conner, who only played 50 snaps there in his college career, but the Cardinals want him to prove his versatility to help with their roster crunch.

Early on, the indications were good, but Conner had a difficult day with the pads on. He had three bad snaps with Jacoby Brissett in shotgun — two at the feet of Brissett and one over his head.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals camp notes: Marvin Harrison Jr. shines