Arizona Cardinals still missing key players ahead of Seattle

The Arizona Cardinals are preparing for their last game of the season this Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks

The injury report on Thursday believe it or not was not as bad as it has been in previous weeks.  That said, the Arizona Cardinals are still missing key players from practice.

Three players have yet to practice this week.  They are tight end Ricky Seals-Jones, defensive end Markus Golden, and defensive end Benson Mayowa.

Golden missed last week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.  There is no need to rush him back.  The Cardinals would be better off just ruling him out now and sitting him.

Golden hasn’t been himself since returning from an ACL injury suffered early on in 2017.  Mayowa has been a nice surprise for the Cardinals, playing well for the most part.

If Seals-Jones doesn’t play this week, Cardinals fans may have seen the last of him.  We will see about that but the tight end position will be one of scrutiny in the offseason, or at least it should be.

The Cardinals had two players that were limited in practice on Thursday.  One of them was safety Budda Baker.  He is another player that if not 100 percent, there is no reason for the Cardinals to risk further injury.

The Seattle Seahawks injury report was actually longer. They had six players who did not practice on Thursday.  One guy who didn’t practice on Wednesday, receiver Doug Baldwin, returned in limited fashion.

Both teams are likely to play it safe, although the Seahawks do have playoff seeding to play for.  How much that matters to them remains to be seen.  The only reason to care is if they want an outside chance of hosting a game in the playoffs as the fifth seed.

The Cardinals at this point just need to get through the weekend without any further injury.  If that means sitting playmakers, so be it.