Cardinals' DeAndre Hopkins Ruled Out vs. Falcons With Knee Injury
Dec 31, 2022
GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 12: DeAndre Hopkins #10 of the Arizona Cardinals looks towards the sideline against the New England Patriots during the second half at State Farm Stadium on December 12, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
The Arizona Cardinals announced Saturday that wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will not play in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons due to a knee injury.
Hopkins had been listed as questionable on the Cards' injury report after not practicing Friday.
The 4-11 Cardinals have little to play for over the final two weeks of the 2022 regular season, as they have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
If anything, it would behoove the Cardinals to lose their final two games of the season to improve their draft position. Perhaps they considered that while weighing whether to sit Hopkins this week.
The 30-year-old veteran missed the first six games of the season due to a suspension for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy, but he hit the ground running upon his return. Despite playing in only nine games this season, Hopkins has racked up 64 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns, putting him on pace for more than 120 receptions and 1,300 yards over a full 17-game season.
Last week's 19-16 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was Hopkins' worst game of the season by far, as he finished with only one reception for four yards on 10 targets. Before that, Hopkins had recorded at least 60 yards or a touchdown in every game he played this season.
Third-stringer Trace McSorley started at quarterback for Arizona against Tampa since starter Kyler Murray is out for the season with a torn ACL and backup Colt McCoy was also unable to play due to a concussion. With Murray and McCoy both still out, the Cardinals announced Friday that they will start journeyman David Blough at quarterback against Atlanta.
Hopkins is one of the Cardinals' most important players, and they made a big investment in him in 2020 after acquiring him from the Houston Texans. They extended his contract by two years and $54.5 million, tying him to the team through the 2024 season.
There isn't much sense in risking Hopkins' health in meaningless games since he will either return as the Cards' No. 1 receiver in 2023 or get dealt for some assets to aid in a rebuild.
With Hopkins out Sunday, Blough's top options at wideout will be Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, Greg Dortch, Robbie Anderson and A.J. Green.
Cardinals to Start David Blough at QB vs. Falcons with Colt McCoy Injured
Dec 30, 2022
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 25: Quarterback David Blough #17 of the Arizona Cardinals warms up before he NFL game at State Farm Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Buccaneers defeated the Cardinals 19-16 in overtime. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Arizona Cardinals will start their third-string quarterback Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters Friday that David Blough will play as Colt McCoy is still dealing with concussion symptoms.
Kingsbury announced Wednesday that McCoy had cleared concussion protocol and was on track to start. The team listed the 36-year-old as a full practice participant Wednesday and Thursday.
McCoy suffered the concussion in the third quarter of Arizona's loss to the Denver Broncos on Dec. 18. Trace McSorley finished the game and started the Cardinals' Week 16 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There's no indication McSorley is dealing with an injury. The 27-year-old journeyman is not listed on the team's injury report.
The Cardinals signed Blough off the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad Dec. 14. He was active for the Bucs game but didn't play.
He will be the fourth quarterback to start for the Cardinals this season.
Kyler Murray's season ended when he tore his ACL in Week 14 against the New England Patriots. McCoy started in Weeks 10, 11 and 15. McSorley made his first career start last week.
Blough will make his first start in three years. The undrafted Purdue product threw for 984 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions in five starts for the Detroit Lions in 2019. His most recent appearance in an NFL game was with the Lions in Week 8 last season.
The 4-11 Cardinals enter Week 17 having lost five consecutive games. Their 11 losses are their most in a season since 2018 (3-13).
JJ Watt Confirms NFL Retirement; Cardinals, Texans Star Won 3 DPOY Awards in 12 Years
Dec 27, 2022
Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt walks on the field during an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in Cleveland. The Cardinals won 37-14. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Arizona Cardinals star J.J. Watt announced Tuesday he's retiring from the NFL after the 2022 season:
Koa’s first ever NFL game. My last ever NFL home game.
My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude. It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure.
Watt has 9.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 33 total tackles through 14 games this year. He soaked in the scene following Arizona's 19-16 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday:
The 33-year-old got off to a blistering start when he entered the NFL in 2011. Through his first five years, he was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, a four-time All-Pro and led the league in sacks twice. His three DPOY nods are tied for the most all-time with Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald.
Thanks to a series of injuries, his career has taken a turn since then.
That was the beginning of a trend for Watt. From 2016 to 2021, he appeared in 55 out of a possible 97 games.
Most recently, Watt battled multiple injuries before his first year with the Cardinals ended after seven games. He had 16 tackles, one sack and 10 tackles for loss in his limited time on the field.
How serious does an injury have to be to sideline #AZCardinals DE JJ Watt? Sources say he actual tore his labrum, his bicep, and his rotator cuff — and dislocated his shoulder. Watt was playing some of his best football and helped change the culture for the undefeated AZ team.
While he didn't boast the kind of longevity some elite pass-rushers enjoyed—his 111.5 sacks rank 26th all-time—the five-time Pro Bowler is a near-lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Following @JJWatt's announcement that he will retire after this season, we can confirm that he'd first be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028. pic.twitter.com/OQt6sOf66P
Pro Football Reference gives him a Hall of Fame Monitor score of 126.00, which is fifth-highest among defensive ends. The four players ahead of Watt have all been enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
Report: Cardinals' Budda Baker to Miss Rest of Season With Fractured Shoulder Injury
Dec 26, 2022
GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 12: Budda Baker #3 of the Arizona Cardinals runs off of the field against the New England Patriots at State Farm Stadium on December 12, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker is expected to miss the remainder of the 2022 season after suffering a fractured shoulder in Sunday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Baker played all of Sunday's game.
Baker, a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, has been a staple in the Arizona defense since being selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft out of Washington.
The 26-year-old has never missed more than two games in a season and played all of the 2021 campaign.
Earlier this season, Baker suffered a high ankle sprain and was expected to miss multiple weeks, but he worked through the injury and surprisingly didn't miss any time.
Baker was selected to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl this year and has posted two interceptions, seven pass breakups, one forced fumble, 111 tackles, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits in 15 games.
With Baker sidelined, Chris Banjo and Charles Washington could see more playing time to end the season.
Baker's injury is certainly a tough blow for the Cardinals, though they have already been eliminated from playoff contention with a 4-11 record, fourth in the NFC West. So it wouldn't necessarily matter if Baker played.
Arizona will face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday before ending the season on Jan. 8 against the San Francisco 49ers.
Report: Kyler Murray, Kliff Kingsbury 'Increasingly Distant' amid Cardinals Season
Dec 23, 2022
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 03: Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals and head coach Kliff Kingsbury wait along the sidelines during a 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on October 03, 2021 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
If it has seemed like Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury were on different pages for most of this season, there's a reason for that.
Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Josh Weinfuss, the Arizona Cardinals head coach and franchise quarterback have grown "increasingly distant" over the course of a lost year for the team.
Among the issues that have divided the two men are Murray's desire for "wanting more freedom at the line of scrimmage, particularly with running plays," but plays designed to get the ball into the hands of Arizona's playmakers didn't come to fruition "either due to miscommunication, a play breaking down or Murray improvising, and the disjointed attack created unpredictability for some of the team's pass-catchers."
Fowler and Weinfuss also noted the clashing personalities between Kingsbury and Murray trickled down to the rest of the locker room as they stumbled to the finish line last season and has continued into 2022.
The report also noted Kingsbury and Murray have both struggled with direct communication that would have helped calm the tension that had "become obvious" to people in the Cardinals locker room.
"Before Murray's injury, Kingsbury was described as 'extremely frustrated' with the quarterback per a team source, believing that his negativity, if not toxic, was 'starting to get to people' around the building," Fowler and Weinfuss wrote.
Cardinals passing game coordinator Cam Turner has been "forced to serve as a buffer" between Murray and Kingsbury this season.
It had become obvious to anyone watching Cardinals games this season that Kingsbury and Murray weren't on the same page. They were involved in a shouting match on the sidelines during an Oct. 20 win over the New Orleans Saints.
"He's real animated over there on the sideline sometimes," Murray told reporters the day after the sideline incident. "It's … 'Calm down, we're good. We're going to make it right.' We ended up scoring, so that was good, but that's all I was saying. Just chill out."
Kingsbury said at the time the team was "working through as an offense where we want to be and what we want to do, and you have competitors that have a level of intensity like that, I think it will keep pushing us forward."
The Cardinals have completely collapsed over the past 12 months. They are 5-15 in their last 20 games, including the playoffs, after winning 10 of their first 12 games during the 2021 season.
Despite the team's rough finish last season, Arizona signed Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim to extensions in March that run through the 2027 campaign. The Cardinals announced on Dec. 14 that Keim was taking an indefinite hiatus due to health-related reasons.
The Cardinals should have also had a celebratory moment when Murray signed a five-year extension in July, but even that was marred because of a clause that required him to do four hours of independent film study each week during the season.
Amid blowback from the clause, the Cardinals removed it from the contract.
Murray's season came to an end on Dec. 12 when he tore the ACL early in the first quarter of the Cardinals' 27-13 loss to the New England Patriots. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the 25-year-old is on track to be ready for the start of the 2023 regular season.
The Cardinals (4-10) are tied with the Los Angeles Rams for the second-worst record in the NFC with three games left to play. They have just one winning season since 2016.
Cardinals' Colt McCoy Out vs. Broncos with Concussion; Replaced by Trace McSorley
Dec 18, 2022
DENVER, COLORADO - DECEMBER 18: Colt McCoy #12 of the Arizona Cardinals throws the ball during the first quarter in the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High on December 18, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Colt McCoy suffered a concussion in Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos and was replaced by third-string quarterback Trace McSorley, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
McCoy appeared to suffer the injury in the third quarter after taking a knee to the head while being tackled.
McCoy completed 13-of-21 passes for 78 yards and one interception before exiting.
The 36-year-old had been listed on the injury report earlier this week after sustaining some ailments in a Monday Night Football loss to the New England Patriots.
Sunday's game against Denver marked McCoy's third start of the season. He's playing in place of starting quarterback Kyler Murray, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Monday's game against New England.
McCoy also started a Nov. 13 win over the Los Angeles Rams and a Nov. 21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers while Murray was sidelined with a hamstring ailment. In those two starts, he completed 70.4 percent of his passes for 456 yards and one touchdown against one interception.
Entering for Murray in Monday's loss to the Patriots, McCoy completed 27-of-40 passes for 246 yards and one interception.
McSorley had appeared in just three games this season before entering on Sunday. Before joining the Cardinals, he spent the first two seasons of his career with the Baltimore Ravens, which selected him in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
The Cardinals will be eliminated from playoff contention if they lose to the Broncos.
NFL Rumors: Kyler Murray Expected to Return from Knee Injury for Start of 2023 Season
Dec 18, 2022
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray looks to pass the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half of an NFL football game in Glendale, Ariz., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. The Chargers won 25-24. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is expected to be ready for the start of the 2023 NFL season despite a torn ACL, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The recovery is expected to take six to eight months, which should put him back on the field by the end of August.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Murray suffered a "clean ACL tear, with no damage to other ligaments in his knee."
Murray suffered the season-ending knee injury during his team's Dec. 12 matchup against the New England Patriots on a non-contact play during a first-quarter rush.
The loss of the 25-year-old was a major blow to the Cardinals. He's the long-term face of the franchise after signing a five-year, $230.5 million extension through the 2028 season.
Murray earned that contract after leading Arizona to an 11-win campaign and a playoff appearance last year, its first since 2015. He earned his second straight Pro Bowl honor as well.
This season was not as successful, but the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year still completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 14 touchdowns (seven interceptions) and 2,368 yards (6.1 per attempt). He added 418 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Ultimately, it felt like the Cardinals were running uphill all season, which started with a 44-21 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. They fell to 4-9 after the Pats game.
Being without key players for large swaths of time was partially the cause of the team's demise. DeAndre Hopkins missed six games after violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy. Zach Ertz suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 10. Marquise Brown suffered a non-surgical foot fracture. Injuries hit the offensive line as well.
Losing Murray was the biggest blow of them all in a lost season, though. Colt McCoy took over down the stretch, with Trace McSorley serving as backup.
The positive update still gives the Cardinals plenty of upside heading into the 2023 campaign.
Former Cardinals OL Coach Sean Kugler Files Request for Arbitration After Firing
Dec 16, 2022
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 15: Offensive lineman Justin Murray #71 of the Arizona Cardinals with offensive line coach Sean Kugler during the second half of the NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns at State Farm Stadium on December 15, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
Former Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Sean Kugler has filed a request for arbitration after being fired in November.
Kugler was fired during the team's trip to Mexico City for the Week 11 game against the San Francisco 49ers. According to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN, he allegedly groped a woman on the Sunday night before the Monday Night Football game and was immediately sent home before the game.
At the time, head coach Kliff Kingsbury said he was "really limited" in what he could discuss until the legal process played out.
In Friday's press release from law firm Shields Petitti, Kugler called the "mysterious allegations" a result of "miscommunication or mistaken identity."
"The allegations against Coach Kugler are simply untrue and have caused Sean, his wife and family enormous personal and professional damage," attorney Michael Petitti said. "Coach and his family have been desperate to understand from the Cardinals' front office and others what rationale or evidence was used to terminate him for cause."
Kugler had been with the Cardinals since 2019, holding the role of run game coordinator this season.
The veteran coach also had NFL stints with the Detroit Lions (2001-05), Buffalo Bills (2007-09), Pittsburgh Steelers (2010-12) and Denver Broncos (2018) and spent five seasons as head coach at UTEP (2013-17).
Arizona has fallen to 4-9 after three straight losses and just lost starting quarterback Kyler Murray for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Arizona Cardinals HBO 'Hard Knocks' 2022: Best Fan Tweets from Episode 5
Dec 15, 2022
GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 12: DeAndre Hopkins #10 of the Arizona Cardinals looks towards the sideline against the New England Patriots during the second half at State Farm Stadium on December 12, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Things got quite emotional on Wednesday's episode of HBO's Hard Knocks.
Sabrina Greenlee, the mother of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, opened about surviving a brutal domestic violence attack 20 years ago that left her blind. She previously discussed the incident in an ESPN cover story with Mina Kimes in 2019.
In the episode, Hopkins also talked about how he has found inspiration and strength from his mother. Every time he scores a touchdown, he brings the ball to Greenlee so that she knows he's there and always thinking of her.
"Whenever I score a touchdown or do something, I try to make sure she gets the ball so she can feel me," Hopkins told ESPN in 2019 (h/t Today's Drew Weisholtz).
For me, #HardKnocks delivered the goods tonight. Loved hearing from DeAndre Hopkins' mom, watching J.J. Watt in action as a mentor, and hearing Kliff Kingsbury touch on regrets from his playing days and how they've informed his work ethic as a coach.
The latest episode of Hard Knocks also got into Hopkins' performance on the field, as he is captured on video sharing a moment with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during Monday night's game.
"I'm glad we only have to play you every four years."
Hopkins missed the first six games of the 2022 campaign while serving a suspension for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy. He has caught 56 passes for 653 yards and three touchdowns in seven games.
In addition to Hopkins, the latest episode also gave an inside look into Kyler Murray's injury. The signal-caller suffered a torn ACL in Monday's game against New England.
It's been a tough season for the Cardinals, which sit third in the NFC West with a 4-9 record as they battle a slew of injuries to top players. In addition to Murray, the team is also without Rondale Moore and Zach Ertz.
Hard Knocks will continue to follow the Cardinals through the end of the season.
