Cardinals vs. Packers – Page 3

Rookie WR Xavier Weaver wore Pat Tillman’s No. 40 in practice this week

Rookie WR Xavier Weaver was the Cardinals’ practice player of the week.

For the second consecutive week, the player wearing Pat Tillman’s No. 40 in practice for the Arizona Cardinals is on the active roster — wide receiver Xavier Weaver. Last week, it was offensive lineman Jon Gaines II.

“It’s a blessing,” Weaver told Cards Wire. “It’s a cool opportunity to just be able to represent someone that means so much to this program.”

When asked what he looks for when deciding who the weekly winner of the Pat Tillman Scout Team will be, head coach Jonathan Gannon said, “Giving good looks, just practicing with a ton of effort and enthusiasm and really forcing the other players … obviously with Zay, going against our defense forcing those guys to be on point and making some plays. Because then when he made some plays — this is like all of them every week — but when Zay made some of those plays, we had to adjust some things.

“There’s always learning from that, but learning takes place when guys are playing at high levels so then you can coach off of that. There’s growth that happens from that, but you need those other guys going a hundred miles an hour. There’s a cause and effect to it. A lot of his plays, some were carded, some weren’t. Twos versus ones, so that was cool for him to go out and make some plays. He’s developing his game.”

Weaver has yet to be active after making the roster as an undrafted rookie free agent, but he approaches practice the right way.

He said, “It’s about just being able to do your job to the best of your ability, 100 percent and everything else will take care of itself. Not trying to do too much, not trying to be a hero. Just do your role and what you are supposed to do for this team. And the rest will come to light.”

Do players overall understand the importance of scout-team work?

“They know,” Gannon said. “And they know what role they have to go in to improving the other side but really, I’m looking for, ‘You can’t stay the same.’ You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse, so I’m looking at guys when that jersey gets given out, did they improve these last three days. I thought he did.”

Weaver admitted he didn’t know much about Tillman’s legacy until being signed by the Cardinals.

He said, “I did my history and homework on the program. Just looking at what he did, not only for the program but for the world, for our communities. It’s just a true blessing to have his number and represent him in practice this week.”

2024 Pat Tillman Award Winners

Week 1: RB Michael Carter

Week 2: LB Markus Bailey

Week 3: WR Andre Baccellia

Week 4: OL Jon Gaines II

Week 5: WR Xavier Weaver

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

Will Cardinals QB Kyler Murray make Swiss cheese of the Packers?

Instead of bathing in accolades, the Green Bay Packers need to prepare for the dual-threat ability of Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray.

Instead of bathing in accolades, the Green Bay Packers need to prepare for the dual-threat ability of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.

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Sure, the Packers have shown strength on defense this season but not versus a quarterback with dynamics like Murray. Packers’ defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will be forced to make a business decision in Week 6. Hafley will either (1) have to play man coverage to account for the scramble, or/and (2) frequent in some disguise zone to confuse Murray on passing downs.

Murray is averaging 10.7 yards per carry this season and his 50-yard touchdown run last weekend sent a power rush through the Cardinals’ locker room. Unlike in years under former coach Kliff Kingsbury, Murray is operating in a much more balanced and traditional offensive system. 12 personnel packages and heavier doses of run are allowing Murray to settle into the flow of the game.

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Murray is building chemistry with wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and tight end Trey McBride, two pass-catchers the Packers don’t necessarily have an answer for.

Lastly, with All-Pro Jaire Alexander hindered by a groin injury, it’s unclear as to why NFL analysts don’t like Murray and the Cardinals’ chances in week 6.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Where will Cardinals-Packers air in Week 6?

Check out the TV coverage map to see where the Cardinals-Packers game will air around the US.

The Arizona Cardinals will have a widely broadcast game for the second week in a row. After getting large national coverage on FOX in their Week 5 game against the San Francisco 49ers, much of the US will be able to watch the Cardinals on the road against the Green By Packers.

According to 506 Sports, the Cardinals will get the largest coverage from FOX of the three 1 p.m. ET games they will air.

Check out the graphic:

FOX’s three early games are Cardinals-Packers, Browns-Eagles and Buccaneers-Saints.

The Cardinals’ game will air in all the pink areas in the above graphic, covering roughly 2/3 of the country. Kevin Kugler and Daryl Johnston will call the game.

Of course, this is more about the interest in the Packers, who have large national support.

However, as they did against the 49ers last week, upsetting them on the road, the Cardinals have another opportunity to impress in front of a largely national television audience.

If they do that, they just might get bigger TV audiences against other teams later in the season.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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For Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, keeping the main thing the main thing is ‘practice’

“You have to take care of Monday through Saturday up until game time to have a chance to win or you just won’t.”

“We talking about practice.”

–Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers, circa 2002.

It’s been more than 22 years since Iverson went on that memorable infamous rant during a post-season press conference in which he said the word “practice” 22 times.

It had been a rough season for the team, one made even more difficult for Iverson, who experienced the murder of his best friend, Rahsaan Langford. A few days before the presser, the trial began for the man accused of the murder.

76ers head coach Larry Brown often complained publicly about Iverson’s practice habits, so his emotions spilled out when he was asked about it.

In a portion of his answer, Iverson said, “We sitting in here; I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it’s my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man.”

So, you might ask, why is this the lede of a story about the Arizona Cardinals?

It’s simple. Because head coach Jonathan Gannon would likely throw a fit and escort a player out of the building if they ever said anything like that about “practice.”

In fact, on Monday, the day after the remarkable come-from-behind win over the defending NFC champion 49ers, Gannon was asked how proud he was with his team.

Brace yourself.

“Very proud,” Gannon said. “Honestly, you guys are probably going to not like this answer. I’m more proud of the week of practice than the actual game probably. Honestly, I really am. It just shows you the leadership and that you’ve got the right guys in the locker room because (in) the NFL it’s week-to-week. You’re going to go through ups and downs, and you try not to ride the emotional roller coaster, but that’s real in the NFL. The sky’s falling. You’re the best. You’re the worst.

“You have to block that out and you have to maximize the day. I thought that—and I told them this—I thought Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday we maximized the day. On the grass, in the weight room and with our health bucket. They did a really good job because it took all of that to get it done, but they set themselves up to have a chance to win the game. They did that and the challenge is now to do it again.”

As for how critical the overall team response was after the 28-point loss to the Commanders the week before, Gannon said, “Critical because if you don’t have a good week of practice, you’re probably not going to win a game. We are where we are right now. A lot of work to be done, a lot of corrections that need to get done, but if we keep stacking good days, good weeks, keep winning behavior on our mind and do things the right way, the league’s fair.”

He then explained how he evaluates what an excellent practice week looks like.

“The first thing I would look at is energy, how we practice and then the mindfulness of the details of each play and the plan,” Gannon said. “We put a lot on our guys mentally. It’s not easy to play here. We give them a lot of things, not just schematically but I put a lot on those guys — not just offense, defense, special teams — but the global view of the game. Our guys take to that because we show them why it’s important. I expect them to know a lot, and they do. When I ask questions in meetings, I can tell by the response that they’re on it.

“That’s a good thing, so again, you’re trying to behave in a way that’s winning behavior. Our process is kind of the same week to week and then every game is different, but you have to take care of Monday through Saturday up until game time to have a chance to win or you just won’t. I mean that’s just how the NFL is: To even do that a very high level, to even give yourself a chance to win — not to win the game — to even give yourself a chance to win. Our guys understand the correlation between that, and they go out and do it.”

In essence, it’s all about, yes, “practice.”

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

Cardinals must avoid this Packers player, who is wreaking havoc against opposing offenses

The Packers lead the NFL in takeaways and it is all because of this one player the Cardinals will face in Week 6.

In the first five weeks of the season, the Green Bay Packers are at the top of the NFL in forcing turnovers. And that’s led by takeaway machine, safety Xavier McKinney.

Green Bay is tied with Buffalo for the best turnover ratio in the league at plus-7 and they lead the NFL with 14 takeaways (nine interceptions, five fumbles).

McKinney has six of the takeaways, highlighted by a league-high five interceptions with one in each game. He signed as an unrestricted free agent this past March, a market the Packers don’t dip into a lot, for $67 million over four years that included a $23 million signing bonus.

After the Packers’ 24-19 victory over the Rams last Sunday, McKinney was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He had takeaways on two successive Rams possessions.

Trailing 13-10 in the third quarter, the Rams had moved to the Packers’ 27-yard line when on second-and-6 defensive end Kingsley Enagbare forced running back Kyren Williams to fumble. McKinney recovered and ran for seven yards. Two plays later, quarterback Jordan Love connected with tight end Tucker Kraft for a 66-yard touchdown and a 17-13 lead.

The Rams followed that by driving to the Green Bay 48 where on third-and-10, McKinney intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass at the 18 and had a 28-yard return. Seven plays later, Love hit Kraft again, this time for a seven-yard touchdown and 24-13 lead with 3:55 remaining in the game.

With an interception against the Cardinals, McKinney would become the third player in NFL history with an interception in each of his team’s first six games of a season, joining Brian Russell in 2003 and Trevon Diggs in 2021.

While with the Giants, McKinney also recorded an interception in Week 18 of the 2023 season and now has an interception in six consecutive games overall. He can become the first player since 1968 and sixth player all-time to record an interception in seven consecutive games, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Paul Krause (seven consecutive games in 1966) and former Cardinal Larry Wilson (seven in 1966) as well as Ben Davis (seven in 1968), Tom Landry (seven in 1951) and Tommy Morrow (eight in 1963).

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said the team has to “understand how he likes to take it away and why those takeaways are happening, but Xavier McKinney’s been a guy doing it forever. When he was in New York playing in that division, he was a guy that could take the ball away. Certain guys do, certain guys don’t. He’s a guy that does.”

“He’s a great player,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. “He’s going to do what he does. We’re trying not to give him the opportunity to do that.”

Does Murray have it in his mind during the game what the Packers are capable of?

He said, “I’m not out there playing scared or anything like that, but we understand going into this game that that’s something that they do well. And how do we win this game? In any game really you don’t want to turn the ball over, but this team obviously is looking for ways to create turnovers and they’re doing a great job of it, so we have to take care of the ball. That’s any game.”

The Cardinals have protected the ball well this season with only five turnovers (two interceptions, three fumbles). Only five NFL teams have fewer than five turnovers at this point of the season.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Cardinals add O-lineman to fill practice squad

The brought back tackle Austen Pleasants after Charlie Heck was signed to the active roster.

The Arizona Cardinals had a vacancy on their practice squad after tackle Charlie Heck was signed to the 53-man roster on Tuesday. They announced the signing of an offensive lineman to replace him on Wednesday.

They brought back tackle Austen Pleasants, who was on the practice squad earlier this season and spent the offseason and preseason with the team.

They did not sign any of the three linemen they brought in Tuesday for tryouts.

As constituted, here is the Cardinals’ updated practice squad:

QB Desmond Ridder
RB Michael Carter
WR Andre Baccellia
WR Dan Chisena
WR Tejhaun Palmer
TE Jordan Murray
TE Bernhard Seikovits
OL Keith Ismael
OL Austen Plesants
OL Luke Tenuta
DL Ben Stille
DL P.J. Mustipher
LB Markus Bailey
CB Jaden Davis
CB Divaad Wilson
S Jason Taylor II
K Chad Ryland

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Arizona Cardinals Wednesday practice report and observations

Some odds and ends as the Cardinals had their first practice of Week 6.

The Arizona Cardinals were back on the practice field Wednesday to begin preparations for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers and wide receiver Chris Moore was not on the field in the portion of work open to the media.

It was reported by Wednesday morning that he would be released, which we said was likely on Monday because of the return of wide receiver Zay Jones from his five-game suspension under the league’s personal conduct policy.

Jones was practicing and officially still has a roster exemption that expires next Monday (Oct. 14). But it can be lifted by Saturday to be able to play in Green Bay. The absence of Moore makes it a formality that the exemption will likely be lifted.

Defensive lineman Darius Robinson was officially designated for return from injured reserve and was on the field, but during individual drills, he only watched his fellow D-linemen. Today opens a 21-day period in which Robinson can practice before being activated, which can happen at any time before the 21 days ends.

Thursday marks seven weeks since Robinson was injured Aug. 22, so he hasn’t done anything football-related during the time. That would make it seem unrealistic that he could match the 30 percent of the snaps played Sunday against the 49ers by defensive linemen Khyiris Jones and Naquan Jones.

Tackle Kelvin Beachum participated in stretching, but was then on the side and not with the other offensive linemen doing individual work. He did not practice last Wednesday and was limited Thursday and Friday because of a hamstring issue, but played all 58 snaps at right tackle against the 49ers.

Both kicker Matt Prater (knee) and CB Garrett Williams (groin) were on the practice field, as was offensive lineman Austen Pleasants, who was re-signed to the practice squad following the signing of Charlie Heck to the active roster. Kicker Chad Ryland remains on the practice squad.

Rookie guard Isaiah Adams, who was inactive on Sunday with a thumb injury, was practicing in the open part.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Rookie DL Darius Robinson’s NFL debut coming soon after returning to practice

The final stretch before Darius Robinson’s NFL debut has begun as he was returned to practice.

Defensive lineman Darius Robinson, the Arizona Cardinal’s second first-round selection in the 2024 NFL draft, is on the final stretch to his NFL debut.

The Cardinals, as expected, opened his practice window, giving him 21 days to be activated from injured reserve to the active roster. It could come as early as this week.

Robinson, the 27th pick in the draft, played well in his limited preseason action, but suffered a calf injury in practice before the season. He was placed on injured reserve and designated to return.

During the open part of Wednesday’s practice, Robinson just watched. The first injury report of Week 6 will come out Wednesday afternoon and his status will be noted.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Cardinals to release WR Chris Moore with players returning

His release opens the door for the reinstatement of WR Zay Jones from his five-game suspension.

The Arizona Cardinals are making a change to the wide receiver room. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, they are releasing veteran receiver Chris Moore Wednesday.

The move signals the return of someone to the active roster.

Receiver Zay Jones has been reinstated from his five-game suspension but the Cardinals have a one-game exemption if they wish. They also have rookie tackle Christian Jones who has been designated to return from injured reserve and had his 21-day practice window opened last week. If either is reinstated to the active roster this week, it would require a corresponding move.

Rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson is also expected to have his practice window opened this week, opening the door for a return from injured reserve.

Moore’s release likely signals that Jones will be reinstated to play this weekend against the Green Bay Packers.

Jones can play all three receiver positions and is the most accomplished receiver on the roster.

In five games this season, Moore has played just 27 offensive snaps and none on special teams. He has not caught a pass or been targeted this season.

The Cardinals will be on the hook for the remainder of his $1.28 million salary as he is a vested veteran.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Cardinals make O-line change on roster

Check out who replaces guard Will Hernandez on the active roster after he is placed on injured reserve.

The Arizona Cardinals made a pair of roster moves to address the offensive line. They placed Will Hernandez on injured reserve and signed tackle Charlie Heck from the practice squad to the active roster.

Hernandez suffered a season-ending knee injury on Sunday in the team’s 24-23 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Heck played in the last three games but after being elevated from the practice squad. He was out of standard elevations. The Cardinals did not have a backup tackle on the roster so Heck was a logical choice to sign.

With Hernandez placed on injured reserve, Trystan Colon now replaces him in the starting lineup. Heck, Jon Gaines II and rookie Isaiah Adams are the three backup linemen on the roster. Rookie tackle Christian Jones will be activated to the 53-man roster off injured reserve within the next two weeks.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Sub scribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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