Arizona Cardinals coming off of mini-bye relatively healthy

The Arizona Cardinals are coming off of a 10-day hiatus with very few of their players sitting on the week 12 injured list

Heading into their week 12 matchup with the New England Patriots, the Arizona Cardinals are a well-rested football club. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury‘s squad has not played since November 19th, when they dropped a 28-21 decision to the Seattle Seahawks. One positive to the 10-day hiatus is the fact that the Cards have managed to get somewhat healthy during their time away from the playing field.

The biggest concern for Arizona during their “mini-bye” has been the status of quarterback Kyler Murray. A shoulder injury that he suffered during the Seattle loss threatened to keep the MVP candidate out of this weekend’s clash with the Patriots. Fortunately for the Cardinals, the sensational Murray has recovered enough to be out there with his teammates on Sunday.

One area of the team where the Cards will be thin at against New England is the safety position. Last week, starter Jalen Thompson re-aggravated the same ankle that had already kept him out of six games in 2020. Backup Deionte Thompson is now sidelined due to COVID-19, and fellow safety Charles Washington is currently listed as “questionable” with a strained groin muscle.

Josh Mauro, a defensive end who’s dealing with a bad hamstring, will also miss the Patriots matchup. Darrell Daniels, Arizona’s third-string tight end, will be forced to sit out the contest with a sprained ankle. Backup offensive lineman Justin Murray is nursing a hand ailment but is expected to be available.

Perhaps the biggest loss for the Cardinals this week is a veteran wide receiver who hasn’t missed a game since 2014. Larry Fitzgerald, a future Hall of Famer, tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus this past Wednesday. It will be just the seventh time in his 17-year career that the 37-year old Fitzgerald will have to watch the action from the sidelines.

Thanks to the time off, the Cards will be able to take on New England with most of their roster intact. We can only hope that the team’s relatively-good health will result in a victory for the visiting Redbirds.