The Cardinals added another cornerback on Tuesday while looking for depth and maybe a diamond in the rough.
Cortez Davis (5-11, 188) was one of six corners who had tryouts Monday. The others were John Brannon, Maurice Canady, Rodney Clemons, Sean Davis and Jameson Houston. Cornerback Nate Brooks was left out to make room in the roster.
Davis visited Hawaii, where he played 35 games in three seasons and had 131 tackles (97 solo), 9.0 tackles for losses, one sack, two interceptions, 34 passes defended and three forced fumbles. He played 12 games last year and led the nation in 19 passes defended and was named second-team All-Mountain West. Davis signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent on May 13, but was waived four days later.
With Darrell Baker Jr. signed by the Cardinals as a rookie free agent after the draft, Josh Jackson was the only other addition to the position. Baker missed two days of practice this week due to an undisclosed injury.
When asked about Monday’s position and how Marco Wilson was doing, head coach Kliff Kingsbury said: “I’ve undoubtedly been impressed by (Antonio) Hamilton. He stepped in as a sophomore in the system, super competitive, very athletic, contributed a lot to special teams last year and when we needed him he took on that role.
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“He played really well at camp but we need Marco and we need one more of these young lads to really come. That’s a position I think we’re deeply in search of for the next guy to come around and make us feel good that he (Wilson) is going in and playing meaningful games.
Jackson, who was signed after a test during minicamp in June, started camp with a bang but has leveled off.
He said on Tuesday: “It was good. I need to keep stacking the days. I feel like I got off to a good start; had some positive days, had some negative days but i have to make up for it. And you just have to have more positives than bads.”
When asked about how you rev up after joining the team late in the offseason, Jackson said, “I’ve just put a lot of extra work into it, whether it’s after practice, watching more movies with Coach, so I feel like that This has really helped me to progress and just learn the defense a lot quicker than other places that have time off-season to learn. But I feel like my focus now is really on having extra time and just staying longer.
He’s looking forward to Friday night’s preseason opener in Cincinnati.
He said: “I still have to prove myself. That’s why the preseason is going to be big. Started well and I had a few bad days but I have to keep proving myself, I have to keep showing them what I can do. Just stay confident.”