Cardinals' Mathieu frustrated with 2016 season

Arizona Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu hasn't been pleased with the trajectory of his 2016 season.

Mathieu was a leading candidate for Defensive Player of the Year honors last season before tearing his ACL in December. The All-Pro spent the summer recovering and played this year while recovering from the ligament tear.

The 24-year-old is fending off a separate shoulder injury and described his year succinctly in his return to practice Wednesday.

"I would say frustrating," Mathieu said via ESPN's Josh Weinfuss. "Yeah. Frustrating."

The Cardinals were billed as a leading Super Bowl contender prior to the year, but slumped to a 5-7-1 record. Mathieu, who missed four games this season spoke about the pain of watching his team from the sideline.

"With the way we've been performing as a team I think it was tough on me personally, emotionally," Mathieu said. "But I'm happy to be back today."