The Cardinals opened the week with a long injury report but could be getting players back this week.
The Arizona Cardinals began Week 8 with a long injury report. They held a shorter, “hybrid” practice Wednesday and had six players sitting out and another seven players limited.
It wasn’t all bad news, as they had players returning to practice for the first time in a couple of weeks.
The details of the first injury report of the week are below.
Lawrence will be out at least a month with his shoulder injury and might be done for the season if he needs surgery.
The Arizona Cardinals announced a pair of roster moves on Wednesday. Defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence, who injured his shoulder in Thursday’s 42-34 win over the New Orleans Saints, was placed on injured reserve.
To replace him on the roster, the team signed kicker Rodrigo Blankenship from the practice squad to the active roster.
Lawrence will miss at least the next four games. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said Wednesday his shoulder could need surgery but they won’t know right away if he can return or if his season will be over.
“It’s going to be a wait-and-see,” he said. “I’d say it’s a month before we’ll know anything — whether we can rehab it and play or just go to IR.”
It is the third time in three NFL seasons Lawrence has landed on IR.
Blankenship’s addition to the active roster suggests the Cardinals plan on using him for a second straight game. Kingsbury said that Matt Prater could return to kick field goals but Blankenship would at least be used for kickoffs.
The Cardinals could have Matt Prater back for field goals only while Rodrigo Blankenship handles kickoffs.
The Arizona Cardinals made some roster moves on Wednesday, among which was the signing of kicker Rodrigo Blankenship from the practice squad to the active roster. That move makes it seem like kicker Matt Prater, who has been sidelined with a hip injury for three games, will miss a fourth game.
However, he might not. There is hope that Prater will be able to play, albeit on a limited basis.
The Cardinals could use two kickers, said head coach Kliff Kingsbury on Wednesday.
“(Prater) is day to day. It may be a deal where he doesn’t take the kickoffs if he can just kick field goals,” he said. “We’re not sure yet. We’ve got to get through the week and see where it goes, but we want to be really cautious with it at this point.”
Blankenship might handle kickoffs and Prater field goals if he has healed up enough to do that.
Assuming he is well enough to kick field goals, having Prater’s reliability on Sunday against the Vikings will be a welcome site after some of the kicking inconsistencies they have dealt with over the last three weeks.
Have a listen to the latest edition of the podcast.
We have a new podcast episode with Revenge of the Birds’ Seth Cox and yours truly. In it, we talk about the Arizona Cardinals’ big win over the New Orleans Saints, discussing our biggest takeaways, the rotational changes and whether the offense and defense were improved.
We talked about the trade deadline and previewed the Cardinals’ next matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
Enjoy the show!
Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!
Below are the approximate timestamps of the topics we discussed.
(1:00) Biggest takeaways in the Cardinals’ win over the Saints
(23:33) Playing time changes — A.J. Green, Antonio Hamilton, the offensive line
(42:26) Were the offense and defense better against the Saints?
(53:06) Trade deadline talk — players to add, players to send away
Trayvon Mullen, Matt Prater and Charles Washington are among those who could come back in Week 8.
The Arizona Cardinals are a little more rested after playing last Thursday night. They have been dealing with a number of injuries but could be getting players back.
Coach Kliff Kingsbury gave some updates about the injury status of a few players when he spoke with reporters on Monday.
Could be coming back in Week 8
Kingsbury is hopeful for kicker Matt Prater, cornerback Trayvon Mullen, safety Charles Washington and linebacker Dennis Gardeck.
“Prater would be big, Trayvon would be big, and Chuck Washington, who’s one of our mainstays on special teams,” he said. “Gardeck is going to be close. There’s quite a few that are in the mix there that (can) come back and really give us a boost if we can get them back.”
They will know more about Prater by the end of the week.
“He’s getting better,” he said. “Once again, we’ve got to get him out there, have him kick and see how he feels towards the end of the week, but I think if Prater can’t go, we’ll stay with what we’ve got.”
They will stay with Rodrigo Blankenship if Prater can’t play.
More of a maybe
Kingsbury wasn’t as certain about running back James Conner or center Rodney Hudson.
“I’m not sure. I think it’s going to be close from what I’ve been told,” he said.
The Cardinals’ first injury report of the week will come out Wednesday.
The Vikings’ offseason was a good one to this point, with the team starting off an impressive 5-1.
The Arizona Cardinals travel to Minnesota this week in hopes of building on last week’s home victory against the New Orleans Saints. The Minnesota Vikings are a familiar opponent, one they played last season in one of the season’s most exciting games.
The Vikings, of course, lost that game 34-33 when kicker Greg Joseph missed a field goal at the end of the game that would have given them, the win. It was certainly a fortunate win for the Cardinals, the type that has not gone their way this season.
Minnesota has a star-studded offensive featuring Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook. Quarterback Kirk Cousins continues to be an efficient passer, leading the team to a 5-1 record.
The past few seasons, the Vikings have been held back by their defense. The team made it a priority to bring in and retain veteran players to bolster that unit. They did so by way of former Packers edge rusher Za’Darius Smith and former Cardinal Jordan Hicks.
Smith was a Pro Bowl-level edge rusher for the Packers over the past few seasons and Hicks was a standout veteran in Arizona. Both are helping a Vikings defense that also has former Cardinal icon Patrick Peterson.
Minnesota parted ways with linebacker Anthony Barr, who had been an integral member of the team since 2013. Aside from Barr, the team did an excellent job of keeping their core together from last season.
Perhaps the biggest move of the offseason for Minnesota was the firing of longtime head coach Mike Zimmer, whom they replaced with former Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. Their new head coach has done a nice job with the offensive firepower the team boasts.
In the draft, Minnesota committed to improving their defense in Georgia safety Lewis Cine (pick No. 32) and Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth (pick No. 42).
It was a defensive overhaul for Minnesota in the offseason in hopes of complementing one of the most talented offenses in the league. So far, it’s worked out as the team has started the season 5-1.
Check out the sixth and final installment of the podcast series previewing the Cardinals’ 2022 opponents.
We have the final of the six opponent preview shows live and ready for your listening pleasure. After five shows that focused on the Arizona Cardinals’ opponents in the NFC West, AFC and NFC South, the final show previews their three second-place games, the opponents who were in second place in their divisions last year like the Cardinals.
Those teams are the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots.
I spoke with Eagles Wire managing editor Glenn Erby, Vikings Wire managing editor Jordy McElroy and Patriots Wire managing editor Henry McKenna to discuss the teams they cover and specifically the 2021 season, this offseason and the outlook for those teams in 2022.
It’s a super-sized show with the three guests. Enjoy!
Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!
Here are the approximate timestamps for each team preview:
(1:00) The Eagles’ 2021 season, recent offseason moves and outlook for 2022 with Eagles Wire managing editor Glenn Erby
(29:53) The Vikings’ 2021 season, recent offseason moves and outlook for 2022 with Vikings Wire managing editor Jordy McElroy
(1:03:02) (1:00) The Patriots’ 2021 season, recent offseason moves and outlook for 2022 with Patriots Wire managing editor Henry McKenna
