PHOENIX -- Drew Stanton is three weeks into a rehab program that’ll have him back on the field by mid-spring.

The Arizona Cardinals' backup quarterback is planning on returning from the right knee injury that sidelined him for the Arizona Cardinals’ last three games of last season by April. His 2014 season, in which he set career highs in passing yards, yards per attempt and touchdowns, ended in Week 15, when he hopped off the field during the Cardinals’ Thursday night game at St. Louis.

“I’ll be full strength by time we start offseason program,” Stanton said after signing autographs at Tuesday’s Super Bowl Media Day. “I don’t really need to do anything now so just kinda let my body rest to get away from the game a little bit, spend time with my family and get refreshed for next season.”

The Cardinals can start their offseason program on April 20.

He’ll be working with Arizona’s team physical therapist Brett Fischer to regain the strength and movement in his right knee. Rehab has started slow but Stanton said “it feels a lot better.”

“I worked out with him last year in the offseason,” Stanton said. “Really like the program he has me on and just looking forward to getting back to full strength.”

Stanton said if the Cardinals had won their wild-card game at Carolina, he likely would have been ready to play the next weekend, but trying to play before then wasn’t a possibility.

“I was going to need at least another week to have a shot,” Stanton said. “That was my hope. So, I was trying to find ways to get ready to go, talking to the training staff and talking to guys (about) what I can be doing when we would get back from that flight from Carolina.

“It didn’t work out unfortunately, but it was a difficult situation the way everything ended. At the same time, I think that the building blocks are starting to fall into place for us."

With Arizona’s season not yet a month old, Stanton still hasn’t digested what he went through in 2014. It started in Week 2, when Stanton threw his first regular-season pass since 2010. He filled in for Cardinals starter Carson Palmer twice -- once when he dealt with a nerve injury in his shoulder in weeks 2-5 and again after Palmer suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 10.

Stanton finished 5-3 as a starter with career highs in passing yards (1,711), yards per attempt (7.1) and touchdowns (seven) before his season ended prematurely.

“I think probably as the offseason wears on a little bit you get a chance for it to set in,” he said. “It was a great season from a personal standpoint, but also from a team standpoint to get out there and do a really good job but not good enough.

“It leaves you wanting more, but also I think we’ve got a lot of really good pieces in place in this organization.”