Nothing changed for Washington between Wednesday and Thursday.
The Washington Football Team released their second injury report of the week on Thursday. It was exactly like their first injury report of the week on Wednesday.
No player sat out for Washington and they only had one player who was limited — reserve linebacker Cole Holcomb, who is dealing with a knee injury.
Veteran linebacker Thomas Davis Sr. (calf) and cornerback Kendall Fuller (knee), both of whom missed the season opener, were full participants on Thursday for the second day in a row.
The Cardinals look like they could be without at least one offensive starter on Sunday against the Football Team.
The Arizona Cardinals are a day closer to their Week 2 home opener against the Washington Football Team. They have already ruled out one starter for the game, as safety Jalen Thompson was placed on injured reserve, while two offensive starters sat out for the second day in a row.
Tight end Maxx Williams, working through an ankle injury was again a non-participant on Thursday after sitting out Wednesday’s practice. So was starting center Mason Cole, who injured his hamstring in the season opener.
With Cole’s absence for the second day in a row, it looks likely that second-year lineman Lamont Gaillard will get his first NFL start at center.
Receivers Larry Fitzgerald and DeAndre Hopkins, after getting the day off on Wednesday, were both full participants on Thursday, as expected.
Linebacker Kylie Fitts was upgraded. He has a hand injury and sat out of Wednesday’s practice. He was limited in practice on Thursday. So was rookie tackle Josh Jones, who has an ankle injury. He was limited for the second day in a row.
The Cardinals add Curtis Riley to the active roster, signing him off the Steelers practice squad.
The Arizona Cardinals will be without one of their defensive starters for at least three weeks. Safety Jalen Thompson, who left the season opener after the second play of the game with an ankle injury, was placed on injured reserve.
Because of new rules about IR in the NFL this year, he is able to come back after a minimum of three weeks and there is no limit to the number of players a team can bring back from injured reserve.
Thompson had one tackle in the opener, getting hurt on the play.
With Thompson now out, fellow second-year safety Deionte Thompson likely will slide into the starting lineup.
The Cardinals also announced the addition of another safety to the roster. They signed safety Curtis Riley off the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad. It was a signing reported earlier in the week.
Riley is in his sixth NFL season.
He has been in the league since 2015 when he entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of Fresno State. He has played for the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and the then Oakland Raiders.
He was a starter in 2018 for the Giants, starting all 16 games. He had 75 tackles and four interceptions. He plays a lot on special teams.
Riley gives them another option off the bench and also special teams depth if the Cardinals decide to use Chris Banjo in the starting lineup instead of Deionte Thompson.
The Cardinals have at least some mild concern about the depth at tight end on the roster. They have worked out three tight ends in two days.
The Arizona Cardinals released their first injury report of the week on Wednesday and starting tight end Maxx Williams appeared on it for the second week in a row. Limited in practice in Week 1, he did not participate in Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury.
It appears there is at least some mild concern for his availability. After bringing in a tight end for a workout on Tuesday, the Cardinals had a pair of tight ends come and work out for them on Wednesday, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, who got a copy of the league’s transaction report with visits and workouts.
The Cardinals brought in tight ends Evan Baylis and Justin Johnson. Johnson is an undrafted rookie and Baylis has six career games in three years.
They don’t appear to be guys the team would add to the active roster, but could be practice squad candidates.
Williams missed a lot of time in training camp with an undisclosed injury. He played 43 snaps on Sunday but, between these workouts and the fact that practice squad tight end Jordan Thomas was protected for the second week in a row, there is at least some worry Williams won’t be available this weekend.
We will pay attention to his participation in practice the rest of this week on the injury report.
Kliff Kingsbury said the offense needs to give him shorter kicks than 50+-yarders.
Arizona Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez was fantastic in 2019, missing only four kicks all season. He entered each of the last two seasons without any competition on the roster.
However, in Week 1, he missed two of his three field goals. It didn’t end up hurting the Cardinals, as they came away with a 24-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers, but it definitely was something that raised concerns.
Those concerns were validated when the Cardinals reportedly have veteran kicker Mike Nugent in for a visit on Tuesday.
However, head coach Kliff Kingsbury hasn’t lost any faith in Gonzalez.
“He’s been great in camp,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “Those were tough field goals. It was all 50-plus I think, and he hit the 56-yarder, which really gave us momentum going into halftime, gave us a chance to win that game. So, we feel very comfortable with Zane and where he’s at.”
Gonzalez hit a 56-yarder as time expired in the first half. He missed from 52 yards earlier in the game and later missed a 49-yard attempt in the first drive of the second half the Cardinals had.
Kingsbury actually put the blame more on the team offensively to get Gonzalez in better spots.
“Obviously, you like to make those, but those are long kicks, and we’ve got to do a good job offensively of not making him kick three 50-yard field goals,” he said.
That said, the fact they brought in a kicker means the organization noticed the misses.
Kickers around the NFL missed field goals and extra points in Week 1. Gonzalez wasn’t alone.
However, it is something to watch in Week 2 and beyond. If there is one thing you need from a kicker, it is to have him be consistent because missed kicks can be a big blow to a team’s confidence and momentum in a game.
With a very physical Washington Football Team coming in this weekend, they have to take every opportunity to score points.
Kliff Kingsbury continues to be impressed by Edmonds’ ability to make plays.
While quarterback Kyler Murray and receiver DeAdnre Hopkins were the stars on offense for the Arizona Cardinals in their Week 1 win over the San Francisco 49ers, running back Chase Edmonds managed to find ways to make a big impact. He did it in the passing game, the running game and on special teams.
He continues to impress head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“We feel Chase is a starting running back in this league, and you saw last year when he had his opportunity before he got hurt, he was playing his butt off, and that’s what we’ve seen all camp,” Kingsbury said to reporters on Wednesday. “He is no-nonsense, all about his business, works really hard at it, takes pride in his craft, and when he gets his opportunity, he makes the most of it. You saw that on Sunday.”
He scored the first touchdown of the game for the Cardinals on a 10-yard catch. His 20-yard run at the end of the half set up a 56-yard field goal. He also returned a kickoff 41 yards.
He is rapidly making himself a player that will be hard to keep off the field. Kingsbury is all about riding the hot hand. If he continues to produce, he will get opportunities.
“He’ll continue to have a major role in this offense and on special teams as well,” said the head coach. “But he’s a guy who can do it all.”
Everyone was able to participate in practice on Wednesday.
The Washington Football Team kicked off their week of practice in good shape with their health. Two defensive starters who were inactive for their season opener were full participants on Wednesday and only one player was even limited in practice.
Cornerback Kendall Fuller and linebacker Thomas Davis both missed the season opener. Fuller had a knee injury. Davis had a calf injury. Both were listed on the injury report as full participants.
The only player to even be limited was linebacker Cole Holcomb, who has a knee injury.
Mason Cole and Jalen Thompson were among those who did not participate in practice on Wednesday.
The Arizona Cardinals began their week of practice in Week 2 much more banged up than they began the season in Week 1. They released their injury report from Wednesday and six players did not participate in the first practice of the week.
Four were because of injuries. Receivers Larry Fitzgerald and DeAndre Hopkins did not participate but simply were given the day off, something that has been the practice for years for Fitzgerald.
Starting center Mason Cole, who left the game on Sunday with a hamstring injury, was one who did not practice. Likewise, safety Jalen Thompson, who apparently injured his ankle on the second play of the game, also sat out.
Tight end Maxx Williams also sat out with an ankle injury, which limited him in practice last week.
Finally, reserve outside linebacker Kylie Fitts sat out with a hand injury.
Rookie tackle Josh Jones, who did not practice at all last week with an ankle injury, was able to get limited work for the first time.
A new podcast episode has dropped with the Arizona Cardinals picking up a Week 1 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Revenge of the Birds’ Seth Cox and I break down and react to all involved with the Cardinals’ win.
We go through what went well and cover the concerns we still have. We talk about the surprises we saw.
We discuss how expectations for this team might have or should change.
After all that, we look ahead to Week 2 and their matchup against the Washington Football Team. What matchups will matter and which ones are a concern? We both give our predictions as well.
Enjoy the show! Subscribe to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app, and make sure to give it a five-star rating.
Here are the topics and approximate times.
(1:30) Reactions to Week 1 and what went well for the Cardinals against the 49ers
(29:42) Concerns from the win over the Niners
(42:07) Surprises from the game
(54:35) Should expectations for the team change?
(1:05:23) Previewing and predicting their Week 2 game against the Football Team
This could signal that Jalen Thompson will miss some time with his ankle injury.
The Arizona Cardinals appear to be preparing to have their depth at safety tested. Starting safety Jalen Thompson suffered an ankle injury after only two plays of the team’s 24-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers and did not return.
It is possible he will not be able to play for a bit and the team has reportedly added a safety to the roster.
According to NFL Draft Diamonds, they have signed safety Curtis Riley off the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Riley also changed his Instagram account bio to show he is an Arizona Cardinals safety with No. 35.
Riley was one of the Steelers’ protected practice squad players for Week 1.
He has been in the league since 2015 when he entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of Fresno State. He has played for the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and the thean Oakland Raiders.
He was a starter in 2018 for the Giants, starting all 16 games. He had 75 tackles and four interceptions. He plays a lot on special teams.
The Cardinals have not announced any signing, but if Thompson’s ankle injury is serious enough, he could be placed on injured reserve, which would mean he would be out at least three weeks.
