The Arizona Cardinals had a number of players who were not in the lineup at all in their second preseason game, a 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
They played their starters but for only a couple of series defensively, but safety Jalen Thompson continued playing after the starters left.
At first, it looked like it would be because he could use preseason reps. He didn’t get an offseason when he was selected in the supplemental draft in 2019 and last year no one had an offseason. Then, during the regular season, Thompson missed most of the year with a bad ankle.
However, upon asking Kliff Kingsbury after the game about Thompson’s playing time, while he indicated Thompson could use the work, his snap count had nothing to do with that. It was because they “were down three safeties.”
Chris Banjo, Deionte Thompson and rookie James Wiggins all did not play on Friday. Banjo suffered a hamstring injury in the preseason opener but Thompson’s and Wiggins’ injuries are not known.
A fourth safety, Shawn Williams, left the game late in the fourth quarter with an injury, forcing the Cardinals to use back-of-the-roster cornerback Picasso Nelson at safety to finish the game.
The Cardinals do need to make five more cuts by Tuesday, but if they only have three healthy safeties — Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson and Charkles Washington — we can expect to see them sign one or two at the start of next week.
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