TAMPA, Fla. -- The Arizona Cardinals practiced in a steady drizzle Thursday in what head coach Ken Whisenhunt called a "really good day of work" three days before Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The rain started about an hour into the Cardinals' 2-hour, 15-minute workout at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice facility.
Running back J.J. Arrington, who missed all of last week's practices with a sore right knee, went through a limited workout for the second day in a row. He took part in offensive drills but sat out special teams work at the end of practice.
"We were worried about him slipping and doing something to his knee," Whisenhunt said.
Arrington is the team's primary kickoff returner.
Injured defensive ends Travis LaBoy (biceps) and Antonio Smith (knee) both worked out extensively.
Whisenhunt said he was pleased that the rain didn't disrupt practice.
"Who knows?" he said. "It's not supposed to be like this on game day, but if it does rain at least we got a lot of work in with wet balls and operating on a field that is a little bit wet."
The Cardinals had scout-team players wear jerseys to simulate Steelers linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley and safety Troy Polamalu.
"It helps our receivers and Kurt (Warner) in order to identify defenses," Whisenhunt said. "Where a certain defensive player shows up, you may have plays predicated off of that. Now, this is something we do all year on a weekly basis. I saw one thing this year before Tennessee played Pittsburgh, they had a player running around on the field with a big long wig hanging out of his helmet to impersonate Troy."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
