Arizona Cardinals: Player updates vs Houston Texans
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals closed out training camp at University of Phoenix Stadium on Friday
The Arizona Cardinals are off to Texas this weekend to face the Houston Texans in the third game of the preseason. As the Cardinals were finishing off another training camp, coach Bruce Arians provided some updates about who will play and who won’t.
First round draft pick, defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, will “play a lot” according to Arians. He missed the first three weeks of camp with an injured ankle. Nkemdiche is currently stuck at the bottom of the depth chart, so playing time is very important for him over the last two games of the preseason.
Quarterback Jake Coker has likely seen the very last of his opportunity to make the team. It was a long-shot to begin with. However he has a sore knee and will not make the trip to Houston.
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Arians also said that there is only one starting spot that is left undecided and that is opposite Patrick Peterson at cornerback. The assumed starter going into camp was going to be Justin Bethel but he re-injured his foot prior to the start of camp. That left the door open for third-round pick Brandon Williams.
Williams still has a lot to learn but Arians tabbed him the starter at the start of preseason. There may not be enough time right now for Bethel to catch him in the final two games of the preseason.
As for the three players that came off the PUP list recently, there had been some uncertainty if any of them would play at all on Sunday. From the sounds of it on Friday, Tyrann Mathieu, Frostee Rucker, and the aforementioned Bethel may all see some very limited time. Anything at this point is a blessing. I wouldn’t look for anything significant from any of them until the regular season starts on September 11th.