Cards O-lineman Boone hoping to play vs. Eagles
This week’s Thursday was a whole lot better than last week’s Thursday for the Cardinals. Especially as it concerns their beat up and beleaguered offensive line.
Last Thursday, things were trending in a positive direction for two starters working their way back from injuries. Then, toward the end of practice, left tackle D.J. Humphries and left guard Mike Iupati suffered significant setbacks to their knee and triceps, respectively.
Iupati was placed on season-ending injured reserve. Humphries remains weekto-week. John Wetzel will make his fourth consecutive start at tackle for Humphries, but Iupati's replacement this Sunday when the Cardinals play at the Eagles remains to be decided.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said he hopes it’s Alex Boone, who missed last week’s game against the 49ers with a pectoral strain. Boone is back at practice this week, where he’s been listed as limited each of the past two days.
“I feel good. I hope things go well and we can have some fun on Sunday,” Boone said Thursday. “Things are going well right now, but we’ll find out more tomorrow. It’s a walk-through – Fast Friday – but it would be fun to be back out there, man. I’d like that more than riding the pine.”
If Boone has a setback or can’t go, the Cardinals would turn to rookie Will Holden, who started last week, or Earl Watford, who was brought back to this team this week as a free agent.
“He did good out there today,” offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin said of Boone. “The thing with him is just getting comfortable being back out there. He’s smart, he’s physical – all the things we need right now in our run game and in our protection.”
Goodwin said right tackle Jared Veldheer graded out the highest of all of his offensive linemen following video review of Arizona’s 18-15 overtime victory over San Francisco.
“He competed, played his butt off and I was proud of him,” Goodwin said. “The biggest thing with him is just gaining confidence and maintaining that confidence, but I was pleased.”
Asked about right guard Evan Boehm, flagged three times in the 49ers game for holding, Goodwin paused for a few seconds before answering.
“He could have graded out a little higher,” he said. “Still learning on the job, but the thing about him is he’s competing. You’ve got to remember he was a center coming out of Missouri. Every day we’re working on something, trying to get him better. But as long as he’s giving maximum effort, we can work with that.”
Injury update
Two Cardinals players did not practice on Thursday – left tackle Humphries (knee) and defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche (calf).
Besides Boone, five other players were listed as limited: receivers John Brown (quadriceps) and J.J Nelson (hamstring), linebackers Karlos Dansby (knee) and John Bynes (groin), and defensive tackle Josh Mauro (calf).
For the Eagles, three players did not practice: defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (calf), cornerback Ronald Darby (ankle) and running back Wendell Smallwood (knee). Defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao (wrist) was limited. Defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan (heel) returned to practice Thursday and was a full participant.
The king of pain
Goodwin said trying to find a way to better protect quarterback Carson Palmer has kept him up at night. No one has been sacked or hit more in the league than the 37-year-old Palmer.
“I don’t want to see him get hit,” Goodwin said. “That’s the last thing I want to see. … I take it personally and sometimes I can’t sleep.”
Imagine how Palmer feels. He said there’s no secret to feeling good despite all the hits. There is, however, a secret to the recovery process to eliminate some of the pain.
“I have got a good recovery and a good routine I go through to get ready to play on Sundays,” Palmer said. “But as far as a secret to getting hit, the secret is to not get hit. I don’t know any secrets about getting hit.”
Palmer knows he’s going to get his share of jarring collisions, just like any other NFL quarterback. But after getting sacked 17 times already and hit 43 times overall, how do his friends and family feel about the number of times he’s getting pummeled?
“Yeah, the wife always focuses on every one,” Palmer said, “but like I’ve said before, it’s those awkward ones, for every position. Whether you are getting tackled as a running back or a wide receiver, those odd injuries come from when you hit the ground oddly and the way you get landed on top of oddly. That’s where those injuries seem to come from.”
Is it tough to watch all of the hits when reviewing game video?
“It depends on if it’s a win or a loss,” he said. “It is a lot easier to watch game tape on Mondays after a win, regardless, whether you get hit once or 10 times. After a loss, you are always wincing.”