Category: Cardinals vs. Titans

Cardinals cut rookie OL Michal Menet from practice squad

The add offensive lineman Eric Smith whom they saw in person as a member of the Cowboys in the preseason.

The Arizona Cardinals already have made a change on the practice squad. The move went unannounced by the team but showed up on the NFL transactions list Monday.

After the team initially had all seven of its 2021 draft picks either on the roster or on the practice squad, they have moved on, at least for now, from their final draft pick, offensive lineman Michal Menet.

He was cut from the practice squad and was replaced by offensive lineman Eric Smith.

Smith has bounced around the league. He entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of Virginia in 2017 and spent time with Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys.

He appeared in two games in 2019 for the Giants, laing 56 offensive snaps. He appeared in one game for the Cowboys last season and played five special team snaps.

He is listed at 6-4 and 308 lbs.

The Cardinals saw him during the preseason when they faced the Cowboys.

Menet struggled in the preseason and was a longshot to make the team because of centers Rodney Hudson and Max Garcia already ahead of him.

He was among the initial final cuts and later signed to the practice squad. We will see if he comes back at some point or if he lands elsewhere.

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8 takeaways from the Cardinals’ Week 1 depth chart

The Cardinals released their initial depth chart of the year. Here is what we learn.

The Arizona Cardinals will take on the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 on the road this Sunday. It is their first big test of the year as the Titans were AFC South champs in 2020 and went to the playoffs.

As they prepare for their season opener, they have released their first depth chart of the regular season.

What is there to know about that first depth chart? Read on for our Week 1 takeaways.

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Cardinals’ Week 1 depth chart has OL Josh Jones slated to start at RG

The second-year Jones beats out veterans Brian Winters and Justin Murray after both missed significant time in training camp with injuries.

The Arizona Cardinals released their first depth chart of the year as they get ready for their season opener on the road against the Tennessee Titans. the first thing that stands out is who is listed as the starting right guard.

Instead of veteran free agent pickup Brian Winters or Justin Murray, last year’s starter at the end of the season, it is second-year pro Josh Jones.

Jones was drafted in the third round in 2020 and slated to be the Cardinals’ right tackle of the future. However, multiple times this offseason, whether it was general manager Steve Keim, head coach Kliff Kinsbury or offensive line coach/run game coordinator Sean Kugler, they all started mentioning Jones’ ability to play guard.

He filled in during training camp and the preseason while both Winters and Murray were out with an injury. He apparently did enough to win the job.

Winters had been running with the first-team offense in the offseason and in training camp when he was healthy.

Kingsbury said the job was still undecided as of the conclusion of camp, as he wanted Winters, Murray and Jones to continue to compete.

In this case, youth won out over experience and physicality.

Jones will be flanked by a pair of solid veterans in center Rodney Hudson and right tackle Kelvin Beachum. They will be able to help him through any issues that might arise due to inexperience.

Winters is listed as the primary backup at both guard positions, while Murray is listed as the backup right tackle to Beachum.

 

Cardinals LB Isaiah Simmons names 3 positions he likely won’t play

The versatile second-year linebacker for the Cardinals is expected to play all over the field. But where won’t he line up?

Arizona Cardinals inside linebacker Isaiah Simmons is expected to play a variety of roles this upcoming season. Drafted out of Clemson as the No. 8 overall pick in 2020, he played nine different positions there.

He didn’t get a bunch of playing time as a rookie due to the lack of an offseason in a pandemic year but learned six positions.

He believes can do what he did in college for the Cardinals.

“It interests me for sure,” he told reporters on Monday.

“I don’t really have an exact number, but I definitely believe I could play multiple positions just with the different skill sets I bring to the game,” he added.

He does have his limits, though. He named three positions that he probably won’t play.

“I’m not going to line up as a 3-tech or a nose,” he said, adding he could go to multiple places in the secondary. That said, he did add he would “probably leave the corner jobs to them.”

But his priority is his main position.

“As of right now, I’m just making sure I master the inside linebacker position before I branch out to other things,” he said.

But if we are counting, excluding the positions he excluded, we can expect to see him play off the edge, in the slot, in multiple linebacker roles and perhaps at both safety positions.

It is going to be an exciting year for Simmons and the Cardinals defense.

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Cardinals begin Week 1 with full participation in first practice

The first injury report doesn’t come out until Wednesday but Monday’s practice had all 53 players on the field for the Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals had a bonus practice on Monday as they kicked off the first week of practice of the regular season. They prepare of their season opener on the road against the Tennessee Titans.

There is no official injury report until Wednesday, so we don’t know what exact participation in Monday’s practice was but we know one thing.

No one on the 53-man roster was out of practice.

In the open portion of Monday’s practice, every one of the Cardinals’ 53 players on the active roster were on the field getting some work, according to AZCardinals.com’s Darren Urban.

This is good news. As of now, they have no one in COVID protocols and only one player of not on injured reserve who can return this season.

So unless something happens this week in practice, the Cardinals should be at full health when they take on the Titans.

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Cardinals are road underdogs in Week 1 vs. Titans in projected shootout

We take a look at the betting odds for the NFL Week 1 matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans.

The Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans will open their season playing one another Sunday in Nashville. Arizona opens as an underdog.

Let’s take a first look at the NFL Week 1 Cardinals vs. Titans odds and lines, courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook.

The Titans are favored on the money line at -155. A $155 bet would win $100 if the Titans win the game outright. They have 60.78% implied odds of winning the game.

The Cardinals are money line underdogs at +125. A $100 bet on the Cardinals to win outright would pay $125 if they are victorious. They have 44.44% implied odds of winning the game.

Titans are 2.5-point favorites against the spread at -130. If the Titans win by three or more points, a $130 bet would win $100. The Cardinals are +2.5 (+105), meaning if they win the game or lose by no more than two points a $100 ATS bet on Arizona would win $105.

The projected total is 52.5 points, tied for the highest of the week. The Over is -108 while the Under is -112. A bet for the Over pays out $100 for a $108 wager if the two teams combine for 53 points or more. Betting the Under pays out $100 for a $112 bet if they combine to score 52 or fewer points.

The Cardinals were 8-8 overall last season, 7-9 against the spread and 5-11 O/U.

The Titans were 11-6 last season including the playoffs, 7-10 ATS and 12-4-1 O/U.

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Cardinals-Titans Week 1 matchup expected to be high-scoring affair

The Cardinals-Titans Week 1 game has a projected total of 52.5 points, tied for the highest of the week.

NFL Week 1 is officially here and we are less than a week away from the Arizona Cardinals’ season opener on the road against the Tennessee Titans. Based on Week 1 betting lines from Tipico Sportsbook, this is expected to be a high-scoring affair.

The projected total for the Cardinals-Titans game is set at 52.5 points. That is tied for the highest projected total in Week 1 with two other games.

The other two are Cowboys-Buccaneers and Browns-Chiefs.

The Titans were No. 4 in scoring last season, averaging 30.7 points per game and they added stud receiver Julio Jones in the offseason. They also gave up 27.4 points per game, the ninth-most in the league.

The Cardinals averaged 25.6 points per game last season. They also bolstered the offense with receiver A.J. Green, center Rodney Hudson and running back James Conner.

Arizona also added defensive talent. They signed defensive end J.J. Watt and get outside linebacker Chandler Jones back from injury, and they will have two young, athletic linebackers in the middle of the field in Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins.

However, this is expected to be a high-scoring affair. Both teams have potent offenses. The Titans’ defense is still questionable, while the Cardinals’ unit shows promise, but will have its hands full with the 2019 and 2020 rushing champion Derrick Henry and one of the top receiver duos of Jones and A.J. Brown.

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Titans pass rusher Bud Dupree expects to play Week 1 vs. Cardinals

Dupree is new to the Titans this season and is coming off a torn ACL.

The Arizona Cardinals’ first test of the 2021 season are the Tennessee Titans. They had one of the very best offenses in the NFL last season but also one of the worst defenses.

They added former Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher Bud Dupree in free agency, even though he was recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last season.

However, while there was some question as to whether he would be ready to return to the field for Week 1, he has removed any doubts.

He plans on playing, according to Titans Online’s Jim Wyatt, via Titans Wire.

“If the opener was this afternoon, and (they) told me to go out there, I am going to go out there,” Dupree said. “I’m going to be ready to go regardless.”

Dupree is being counted on to bolster a pass rush that was not good in 2020. The Titans had the third-fewest quarterback sacks in the league last season.

Dupree had a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2019 for the Steelers and added eight in 2020 in 11 games before tearing his ACL.

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Titans QB Ryan Tannehill returns from COVID list, in line to start vs. Cardinals

He was one of nine Titans players to test positive for the virus. Five remain on the COVID reserve for Tennessee.

The Tennessee Titans are on track to have their starting quarterback on the field when they host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. Ryan Tannehill has been reinstated from the reserve/COVID-19 list to the active roster.

Tannehill was one of two Titans players to come off the list. However, five players currently remain.

Tannehill landed on the list August 26. The Titans had a COVID outbreak on the team despite almost the entire team being vaccinated. He was one of nine players to test positive for the virus.

But he is back and will be able to get a full week of practice in before the season opener.

Last season, Tannehill led the Titans to an 11-5 record, winning the AFC South. He passed for 3,819 yards, 33 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, and he added 266 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

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Robert Alford’s return gives Cardinals good comfort level at CB entering Week 1

Kliff Kingsbury said the team is confident in Alford, Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson as starters at corner entering the season opener.

The Arizona Cardinals suffered a blow to their defensive backfield with the sudden retirement of cornerback Malcolm Butler. However, the Cardinals still believe they are in a good spot.

Now that cornerback Robert Alford has returned from the COVID reserve, head coach Kliff Kingsbury feels good about the guys who will take the field in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans.

“I think we have three guys we feel really comfortable starting at outside corner,” Kingsbury told reporters Wednesday.

At the time, he had Byron Murphy, rookie Marco Wilson and recently acquired Luq Barcoo practicing with the starters.

While Kingsbury likes Barcoo, he was not one of the three players. Those players are Murphy, Wilson and Alford. At that time, though, Alford was still on the COVID list. He was activated from it on Friday, so the starters look set.

All offseason, throughout training camp and in the limited time the starters played, it was Murphy and Alford starting in base defenses. That will be the case still in Week 1. When they need three cornerbacks, Wilson, the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick, will come in and play outside while Murphy slides inside to the slot.

Wilson impressed in camp and in the preseason, which has the Cardinals excited and confident about him being in the lineup despite being a rookie.

This will be about as tough a test the Cardinals will face. The Titans had one of the league’s best offenses in 2020 and receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown are among the best in the league.

“We’re very confident in Alford, B-Murph and Marco and what we’ve seen from them,” Kingsbury said.

That confidence will be tested in nine days.

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