Cardinals vs. Panthers – Page 13

With injuries, Cardinals’ Isaiah Simmons could be going to safety

With Jalen Thompson and Budda Baker out this week and maybe even Chris Banjo, “we may have to look into that,”said Kliff Kingsbury.

The Arizona Cardinals selected rookie Isaiah Simmons eighth overall in the 2020 draft to play linebacker. With his size, speed, athleticism and production in college, they believe he can be special at the position.

One of his greatest traits while at Clemson was his ability to play all over the field. He was a safety who transitioned over time to linebacker. Because of circumstances on the roster for the Cardinals, he might end up back at safety.

Thus far this season, he has barely played because Jordan Hicks and De’Vondre Campbell have played very well.

The coaching staff is not unhappy with Simmons. He just isn’t getting playing time yet and it affords them the luxury of letting him learn.

However, safety Jalen Thompson must miss at least one more game with an ankle injury, as he is on injured reserve. Budda Baker will miss at least one game after getting surgery to repair ligaments in his thumb. Chris Banjo, who had been starting in place of Thompson, left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

That leaves Deionte Thompson, Curtis Riley (who has been with the team a little more than a week) and special teamer Charles Washington.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters Monday, “there has been discussion” about moving Simmons to safety, at least for now.

“Isaiah is a guy who played multiple positions there at Clemson and obviously has a feel for some of that,” he said. “With those bodies being down, we may have to look into that.”

This would be a natural way to let Simmons get playing time and have an immediate impact. Of course, it does run the risk of doing what they did to Haason Reddick. Reddick was drafted to play inside linebacker, which was a new position. An injyr to Markus Golden led him to be chaned to outside linebacker, similar to the defensive end position he played in college. Then he moved back to off the ball in 2018, only to be moved to inside linebacker in 2019 and then back to outside linebacker. Finally, four years into his career, he appears to be finally look like a productive player.

But if this can be somewhat short term, Simmons can both get playing time and fill a desperate need at the moment.

It wasn’t how things were originally planned, but it might be the best way to take care of the defense and also let their top pick make plays.

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Should the Cardinals Sign Pro-Bowl S Earl Thomas?

Following the Cardinals’ 23-26 loss to the Detroit Lions and glaring needs at safety, should the Cardinals bite the bullet and sign Pro-Bowl safety Earl Thomas?

The Arizona Cardinals experienced one of their more gut-wrenching losses in recent memory to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, falling 23-26. The team has lost to worse teams before, but this one felt different for both the Cardinals and their fans. This team is full of talent and potential, but can’t seem to reach it.

Part of Sunday’s disappointing loss came as a result of a very thin secondary for the Cardinals. By the time Detroit was at midfield in their game-winning drive, the Cardinals had backup safeties to their backups playing. The result was Marvin Jones breaking a tackle to move Detroit into field-goal range.

The incredible Budda Baker played through a thumb injury that requires surgery, but his availability in the future is uncertain. He will have surgery this week.

Baker’s plans are to only miss next week’s game against Carolina, but that is far from a certainty. He could end up missing a few weeks. This injury unfortunately pairs with the injuries to safeties Jalen Thompson, who is on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and Chris Banjo, who left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

So, what can the Cardinals do to add talent to their safety room? Many fans have expressed their desires to sign former Cardinal Tony Jefferson, though he does not appear ready to return to football as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury in 2019.

The obvious most talented option left for Arizona is none other than seven-time Pro-Bowler Earl Thomas III. After being an anchor in Seattle’s legendary Legion of Boom, Thomas signed with the Baltimore Ravens on a one-year deal. He was a large part of Baltimore’s stout 2019 defense. Thomas was released by Baltimore before the start of the season.

A seven-time Pro-Bowl and three-time First-Team All-Pro safety doesn’t get released in training camp very often. Thomas allegedly got into a fight with a teammate that led to him throwing a punch. This came months after he reportedly got into a scuffle with DT Brandon Williams after their loss to Cleveland. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has also reported Thomas missing or being late to some team meetings in his one-year stint with Baltimore.

Arizona would have to believe Thomas can prevent these type of incidents from occurring again for them to have any interest. There is certainly a risk in bringing a player into a locker room with that recent track record, but the payout if all works out is an All-Pro safety to bolster the secondary.

Budda Baker has settled in nicely in his role at free safety, which is the same role occupied by Thomas. While Baker has shown his positional versatility on the field, Thomas is usually locked into free safety. That becomes an issue when Baker returns, unless Vance Joseph wants to have Baker roam the field.

The bottom line is, Earl Thomas is a great player who makes the Arizona Cardinals better in the secondary. However, his release from Baltimore likely deters Steve Keim from bringing in the former All-Pro.

Depending on the status of Baker’s thumb surgery, Arizona would be better off adding one of the other free agent safeties given the hopeful short term injuries to their two starting safeties. Thomas may be a great player, but Arizona made Baker the highest-paid safety in the NFL. They rightfully believe in him.

Other free agent safeties include Tony Jefferson, Haha Clinton-Dix, Eric Reid and Demarius Randall. It would be a surprise if Arizona didn’t look into at least one of these options before Sunday’s game against the Panthers.

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Cardinals requested 2-game road trip to East Coast

According to Peter King, the Cardinals were among eight teams wanting back-to-back long road trips.

The Arizona Cardinals will play three consecutive road games from Weeks 4-6 this coming season. They will play the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys all in a row.

Playing the Panthers and the Jets in consecutive weeks means two straight games on the East Coast.

The Cardinals wanted it that way.

According to NBC Sports’ Peter King, the Cardinals were one of several teams requesting back-to-back long road trips.

I heard that eight teams asked to have two distant games paired so those teams could take one long road trip instead of two. The Chargers (at Bucs, Saints), Rams (at Eagles, Bills), Jets (at Seahawks, Rams), Dolphins (at 49ers, Broncos), Cardinals (at Panthers, Jets) and Raiders (at Falcons, Jets) all got their road requests answered.

The Cardinals intend on staying back East after they play the Panthers rather than traveling home and then back out to New York to play the Jets.

“That’s the plan,” Kliff Kingsbury told reporters in a video conference on Monday. “Obviously, a lot of things are up in the air and we don’t know how it will play out, but I like the thought of it. I think you get adjusted well staying out there. It changes up the season, brings some freshness to maybe what’s been a grind for a while. I’m open to it and it sounds like they’ve liked it in the past.”

It doesn’t mean the Cardinals will win either game but it will change things up and ideally make it so adjusting their body clocks the second week isn’t a factor in how they play.

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Ep. 266

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Ep.265

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Cardinals will face 4 teams with new coaches in 2020

The Redskins, Panthers, Cowboys and Giants all have new head coaches.

The Arizona Cardinals schedule is out and we know when they play each of their 2020 opponents. Four of these opponents have new head coaches, although two of these new head coaches are familiar faces to the Cardinals.

Week 2 vs. Redskins: Ron Rivera

Rivera replaced Jay Gruden. Rivera is a familiar face for the Cardinals, as he coached the Carolina Panthers from 2011-2019. The Cardinals have faced him many times in the regular season and playoffs.

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