Deciding inactives Sunday a tough call for Arizona Cardinals
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals face the Detroit Lions on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
The Arizona Cardinals will have some tough decisions to make come Sunday when it comes to inactives ahead of the game at the Detroit Lions. This is per a report by Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.
For the first time in the Bruce Arians era, the Cardinals will have to scratch seven healthy players. Now some players do have bumps and bruises but nothing deemed bad enough to miss a game.
The Cardinals get running back Andre Ellington back on Sunday after missing the last three games. He will be active, you can count on that. Even with Chris Johnson and David Johnson available for duty, it is still the right call if he is ready to go, as he and the team have both said.
One guy with with one of those bumps and bruises is tight end Darren Fells. He is nursing a hip he injured last week but was said to be probable for Sunday against the Lions. My best guess is he will be one of the seven inactives. With a healthy Jermaine Gresham and Troy Niklas, why not give the second-year tight end a break, especially if it has to do with a sore hip?
Safety Rashad Johnson has a sore hip too but I could see more of a necessity for him being in the game. The Lions have some good receivers in Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. I don’t expect him to be inactive. Now safety Chris Clemons who is nursing a hamstring could be slowed down and that might be reason to sit him.
A guy I’d love to see get a shot to play in his first game is nose tackle Xavier Williams. He has been inactive every week to date. If everyone is healthy enough to play though I don’t think he sees the field this week. Frostee Rucker was probable with a thigh injury but you can’t leave him out.
Inactives will be announced about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. That is an hour and a half ahead of the game, per NFL rules.