Arizona Cardinals can’t afford camp injuries

The Arizona Cardinals won’t have preseason games to worry about but injuries in practice certainly can still doom any team

So far just several days into training camp for the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium, they’ve been fairly good on the health front.  That was until Sunday.

Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins left practice early on Sunday thanks to tightness in his hamstring.  Clearly this early in camp it’s not something to sound any alarms on but its something the team needs to nip in the bud now.

Hopefully coach Kliff Kingsbury will play it smart and not allow him to push it.  Sure, being in practice to gain as many reps with quarterback Kyler Murray is important.

However it won’t do any good if its a lingering issue once the regular season comes to fruition.  Hamstring issues have been known to hamper Cardinals receivers in the past for great lengths of time.

Just be careful should be the mantra.  Hopkins immediately made the Cardinals receiving core one of, if not the best in the NFL.

Last year in camp the Cardinals lost receiver Hakeem Butler to a broken hand for the season before the regular season arrived.  There have been others.

Center A.Q. Shipley, running backs D.J. Foster and T.J. Logan all suffered season ending injuries in the preseason in recent years.  They happen, a couple of those were suffered in actual preseason games.

With Covid-19 at the forefront of health issues now, injuries can be even less afforded with the possibility of positive testing. It’s not something that is just isolated to the Cardinals certainly.  It’s an issue every team has to deal with.

From a Cardinals standpoint though, the depth at certain positions just can’t suffer too many injuries, particularly on defense.  Any injuries, nagging or major, could be a set back for a team like the Cardinals who are trying to get back to playoffs for the first time in five years.