Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Cardinals get back Edmonds and a core special teams player as they take on the Lions, but lose two starters for at least three games.
The Arizona Cardinals announced a number of roster moves on the eve of their Week 15 matchup on the road against the Detroit Lions. Two players landed on injured reserve, two were activated and two players were elevated from the practice squad.
The details of the moves are below.
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There are three players who have started for weeks who now are finally listed that way on the depth chart.
The Arizona Cardinals released their depth chart for Week 13 and it finally reflects what the actually starting lineup is.
What changes were finally made?
Read on.
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“Those guys competed their tails off and really helped us win that football game. You can’t say enough good things about them being ready to roll and prepared when their opportunity arose.”
The Arizona Cardinals did not have their two top cornerbacks on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson both missed the game with rib injuries.
That meant the Cardinals had to test their depth with Robert Alford playing nearly every snap along with Antonio Hamilton and Jace Whittaker.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury heaped praise on the group both after the game and again on Monday when he spoke to reporters.
“(I) was really, really proud of Jace Whittaker, Antonio Hamilton and even Rob Alford, who’s not a young guy, but has been a veteran with the most action he’s seen in over two years,” he said. “Those guys competed their tails off and really helped us win that football game. You can’t say enough good things about them being ready to roll and prepared when their opportunity arose.”
The Cardinals have not yet allowed a 100-yard receiver this season. They held 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel, who was leading the NFL in receiving yards, to only 58, and they did it with a 2020 undrafted rookie, a guy they signed off the streets a few weeks ago and someone who had not played a game in two seasons.
Against the Cleveland Browns this week, ideally the Cardinals can have back both Murphy and Wilson, or at least one of the two.
However, if not, then they will rely on these three scrappy competitors against in Week 6.
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After looking at the snap counts for the Cardinals, there a few things that surprised us. Check out what it was.
We took a look at the offensive and defensive snap counts for the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. Among the 69 offensive snaps and 64 defensive snaps against the Tennessee Titans, there were some surprises.
We go over them below.
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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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With the return of Alford, the Cardinals are at 53 players on the roster and he will get to play his first game in three season with the team.
The Arizona Cardinals got their roster to 53 players on Friday with the return of cornerback Robert Alford. The team announced he was reinstated to the active roster from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
He had tested positive for COVID-19, although he is vaccinated, as stated by head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
His return brings the roster to 53 players. With final cuts, they had it a 52 players, anticipating Alford’s return.
Alford’s return gives the Cardinals five cornerbacks on the roster and solidifies the starting lineup.
Alford will play his first game for the Cardinals next week, as the previous two seasons he suffered season-ending injuries in training camp practices.
He and Byron Murphy will start at cornerback with rookie Marco Wilson coming as the third corner for nickel downs.
The cornerbacks have a tough task in the season opener, as they face the Tennessee Titans, who have receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown.
Alford is no stranger to Jones. They were teammates when both played for the Atlanta Falcons.
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Phillips lands on injured reserve for the third time in two seasons with the Cardinals, but can return after three weeks.
The Arizona Cardinals now have 53 players on their roster. They brought back a pair of players and moved one to injured reserve. Guard Justin Pugh and cornerback Robert Alford, both of whom were on the reserve/COVID-19 list, we reinstated to the 53-man roster.
Because they were at 52 players, they only needed to make one corresponding move. That move was to place defensive tackle Jordan Phillip on injured reserve.
That means he will be out at least the first three games of the season. His injury is undisclosed.
It is a huge disappointment for Phillips, as he was the Cardinals’ highest-priced free agent acquisition in 2020. He missed seven games last season with a hamstring injury. He landed on IR twice.
He fully participated in OTAs and minicamp back in June but missed a lot of time in training camp with an undisclosed injury and then contracted COVID-19. Once he was activated from that list, he was able to practice early in the week. He apparently had a setback.
With Phillips heading to IR, it now makes sense why Michael Dogbe was kept on the 53-man roster.
With Phillips out, second-year defensive lineman Leki Fotu or third-year pro Zach Allen will replace him in the starting lineup.
The Cardinals now have nine offensive linemen, five cornerbacks and six defensive linemen on the 53-man roster as they prepare for the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.
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Justin Pugh and Jordan Phillips are expected to return after having tested positive for the virus and Roberty Alford could return.
The Arizona Cardinals currently have three players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That could change when they hit the practice field Monday morning.
They hope to get all three players back Monday, according to AZCentral Sports’ Bob McManaman.
Starting left guard Justin Pugh and starting defensive tackle Jordan Phillips are expected to come off the list. Both tested positive for the virus despite being vaccinated.
Cornerback Robert Alford, who landed on the list last week, could come off. It has not been reported whether he contracted the virus or had high-risk, close contact with someone who did. He was also vaccinated.
If all three return, the Cardinals will have to release one player. Including the three on the COVID list, they have 82 players. With their roster exemption for international tight end Bernhard Seikovits, they can only have 81 players active.
Of course, they might make other moves Monday anyway. They must have the roster cut down to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon.
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Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury hopes Alford is back in five days, suggesting the cornerback did not test positive for the virus.
Arizona Cardinals cornerback Robert Alford suffered season-ending injuries in training camp in 2019 and 2020. The Cardinals wrapped up training camp on Thursday and he made it through the entirety healthy.
However, he will miss the preseason finale. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday. It appears he had close contact with someone who was positive.
Six players leaguewide were placed on the COVID reserve and five were for a positive test. However, Kliff Kingsbury told reporters Alford is vaccinated and was hoping for a five-day return, which would have been of contact and not because of a positive test.
The Cardinals will play Saturday against the New Orleans Saints on the road. Then they return home and will make final cuts by Tuesday. If all goes well, he could potentially be back on the field for their final practice next week before they have the holiday weekend off.
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Cardinals rule out Kyler Murray, Rondale Moore for preseason game vs. Saints
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The Arizona Cardinals won’t dress their starting quarterback in Saturday’s preseason finale with the New Orleans Saints, per Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic. McManaman — via Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury — reoprts that Arizona won’t play quarterback Kyler Murray against New Orleans as well as rookie receiver Rondale Moore (resting a minor injury) and cornerback Robert Alford, who is unavailable due to COVID-19 protocols. Alford’s name might be familiar to Saints fans; his Atlanta Falcons teams went 4-7 against the Saints from 2013 to 2020.
It’s unclear exactly who won’t dress out for the final exhibition game played at Caesars Superdome, though Saints coach Sean Payton has said the team plans to rest most of its starting lineup. It doesn’t make sense to risk anyone expecting heavy minutes in the regular season on a meaningless preseason game. But if Alvin Kamara doesn’t get on the field against Arizona, it means he’ll go into Week 1 having not played at all. I won’t argue with resting the team’s best player before such a pivotal season, though.
So keep that in mind if you’ve got tickets for Saturday’s kickoff, which is currently scheduled for 7 p.m. CT. Also watch out for any scheduling changes due to Tropical Storm Ida, which is expected to make landfall near coastal Louisiana Sunday evening. We’ll let you know as soon as anything official is announced.
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