Packers Wire managing editor Zach Kruse gives us the lowdown on the Cardinals’ Week 8 opponent.
The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers will face off Thursday night at State Farm Stadium. It is potentially a preview of the NFC Championship Game. The Cardinals are 7-0 and the Packers are 6-1, having won six games in a row.
To prepare us for the game and get to know the Packers more, Packers Wire managing editor Zach Kruse answers a few questions for us and gives us his prediction for the game.
We go behind enemy lines. Read on for what he has to say.
They added a pair of defensive backs to the practice squad.
The Arizona Cardinals announced some roster moves on the practice squad this week. They released a pair of players and added a pair.
They released running back Tavien Feaster and defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter.
Neither had played this year. The release of Ledbetter suggests the Cardinals are confident about the health situation of the defensive line.
They signed a pair of defensive backs.
They added safety Javon Hagan and cornerback Lavert Hill to the practice squad.
Hagan spent last season on the practice squad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was an undrafted rookie out of Ohio. The six-foot, 215-pound safety had 318 tackles (192 solo), 26 pass breakups, six interceptions, nine forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries while in college.
Hill is a 5-10, 190-pound cornerback who entered the league last season as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan. He was on the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles last season. He spent the preseason with the Eagles this year before getting released. Hill played in 48 games at Michigan and was a three-time All-Big Ten selection (2017-19) who earned All-American honors and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award in 2018.
The Green Bay Packers did not hold a full practice for the second day in a row, as they get ready for their Thursday night matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. With their second injury report of the week on Tuesday, it was the same as Monday’s.
Because they did not have a full practice, the participation is estimated.
We get a slightly clearer picture about what the injury situation will be for the Cardinals on Thursday.
The Arizona Cardinals held practice on Tuesday after only having a walkthrough on Monday. They released their second injury report of the week, leading up to their Week 8 showdown on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers.
For the second day in a row, some bigs names were not at practice.
The Packers’ No. 2 receiver joins Davante Adams on the COVID list heading into their Week 8 game against the Cardinals on Thursday.
The Green Bay Packers placed wide receiver Davante Adams, their No. 1 offensive weapon, on the COVID list on Monday. He tested positive for COVID-19. He is unlikely to play on Thursday when the Packers face the Arizona Cardinals.
If he has negative tests on consecutive days before Thursday and has no symptoms, he can return. It is highly unlikely but there is at least a possibility.
But he isn’t the only receiver the Packers have lost.
They placed receiver Allen Lazard on the COVID list on Tuesday. He is guaranteed to be out for the game on Thursday. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Lazard is unvaccinated and landed on the list for close contact, which means he will be on the list for a minimum of five days.
Lazard has the second-most receptions and receiving yards on the team at the position.
The Packers have won six games in a row but will face a Cardinals team that is 7-0 this season. Playing without their top two receivers will make things much more difficult.
It also ups the stakes for the undefeated Cardinals to remain undefeated. They have the opportunity to take a head-to-head tiebreaker against a team in the conference they surely will be battling for playoff seeding later in the year.
Ian Rapoport reports that the Cardinals fielded many calls about Isabella before the season and that he could be on the move now.
The NFL trade deadline approaches. It is one week away. The Arizona Cardinals already made a big move to acquire tight end Zach Ertz. Could they make more moves?
It is not someone who plays a significant role. It is third-year receiver Andy Isabella.
The former second-rounder has played in just two games this season, and he’s been mostly inactive. Yet, teams were calling Arizona to no avail about the speedster prior to the season. Expect those calls to increase as the trade deadline draws closer and if they don’t trade him, the Cardinals face the prospect of getting nothing for a former early pick who doesn’t appear part of their future.
He has not had an offensive snap this season and has only been active twice, getting six total snaps on special teams.
He has been a disappointment so far in his Cardinals career but he does have traits another team would like. He has elite straight-line speed. He can play inside and out. He can help in the return game and now offers some help on special teams.
He seems to be rotting at the back of the Cardinals’ roster, although it seems they were intent on not trading him before the season.
The emergence of Rondale Moore makes it nearly impossible for him to find playing time.
The Cardinals do not have a pick in the fourth or fifth rounds in next year’s draft currently because of moving up in the draft this year to select cornerback Marco Wilson and because of the trade for Ertz.
Since the Cardinals seem to have no plans for Isabella moving forward, using him to potentially recoup one of those Day 3 picks would seem like a smart move.
They did not hold a full practice, so see what estimated participation would have been like.
The Green Bay Packers are coming to State Farm Stadium to take on the Arizona Cardinals Thursday night, which means a short week and limited practices.
The Packers did not hold a full practice on Monday but did released an injury report based on estimated participation.
Check out which Cardinals would not have practiced had the team held a full practice.
The Arizona Cardinals released their first injury report of Week 8. They take on the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, so they did not hold a full practice. However, their first injury report was an estimation of participation.
Based on that, the Cardinals had 10 players on the injury report, including quarterback Kyler Murray. Five would not have participated.
The Packers’ best offensive player likely will miss the Thursday night matchup in Week 8.
As the Green Bay Packers get ready for their Thursday night matchup against the Arizona Cardinals on the road, they appear to be in a similar situation to what the Cardinals dealt with on the road against the Cleveland Browns.
The Cardinals had to play the Browns without head coach Kliff Kingsbury and three defenders, including Chandler Jones, one of the best players on the team, because of positive tests for COVID-19.
The Packers could be without receiver Davante Adams and defensive coordinator Joe Barry. Barry tested positive for COVID-19. Adams landed on the COVID list.
For Adams to be able to play, he will need two consecutive negative tests separated by 24 hours, which will be unlikely with the game being played Thursday night.
That is a huge loss for the Packers, as he is tied for second in receptions and is third in receiving yards this year.
Green Bay’s starting receivers this week will likely be Reggie Cobb and Allen Lazard, which is much different than with Adams in the lineup.
The Cardinals will get two key defenders back to face the Packers on Thursday night.
The Arizona Cardinals will have back two of their defensive players when they take on the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. After missing two games on the COVID list, outside linebacker Chandler Jones and defensive end Zach Allen were activated from the list and returned the active roster.
Jones tested positive two weeks ago was able to return to the team late last week, but the team opted to give him a few days to build up his conditioning. Jay Glazer reported Jones lost 15 pounds, something that Jones refuted.
Allen tested positive later in the week before the game against the Cleveland Browns but also missed two games.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury was understandably happy to get them back.
“With that group, they’ve both been having tremendous seasons, and hopefully they can pick up where they left off,” he told reporters.
Jones might get to line up against a backup tackle, as left tackle David Bakhtiari has not yet been activated from injured reserve yet and is unlikely to have it happen this week with the short week.
