The Arizona Cardinals are headed into a short week with several injury situations still unresolved, and Monday brought a clearer picture on who is trending up - and who likely won’t be available when the team faces the Green Bay Packers on Friday.
Carson Beck remains the most closely watched name. Beck has been dealing with a rib injury that started in the Hall of Fame Game, and while he got through practice all week before being a late scratch against the Las Vegas Raiders, he did not throw during the ramp-up last week before Arizona hosted the Dallas Cowboys. LaFleur said Beck would have a throwing session after the final practice of the week, and Monday’s update offered only a limited step forward.
"Good with the throwing session. Still TBD in terms of what this Friday will look like," said LaFleur.
LaFleur was also asked whether the missed time would slow Beck’s development, and he leaned into the basic reality of practice reps.
"It's easy to magnify the quarterback position and the rookie and all that kind of stuff, but yeah, you get better at football by practicing and playing football. So when you're not out there, it's hard to get better, right? So he's missed some days, but that's no different than the nose guard," he said.
"That's no different than the receiver. That's no different than the left tackle, particularly for the younger guys.
So it is what it is. Injuries are part of this thing, and you know he's a tough dude.
Like I said, he battled through it for three or four practices before the discomfort became so real that it just wasn't worth it to [play] because it wasn't going to improve until we gave him a little bit of time."
At this point, Beck playing Friday looks like a long shot, though LaFleur left the door open just enough to keep it from being ruled out entirely.
Jeremiyah Love is in a similar spot. The team’s third overall pick suffered an ankle injury in Las Vegas that was later reported to be a high ankle sprain. He sat out all of last week and also missed the Dallas game, and LaFleur’s latest update pointed to more of the same in Green Bay.
"He's doing well, progressing well, and kind of in the next phase of it," LaFleur said on Love.
"He will not be on the field doing any sort of practice or anything like that right now."
That makes Love unlikely to suit up against the Packers as Arizona works toward the end of preseason play.
There was also an update on Taylor-Demerson, who left Saturday night’s game after colliding with a Cowboys player and came out with a ribs injury. The play resulted in a personal foul on his hit to Zack Kuntz, and LaFleur said the team is treating the injury as something to monitor day by day.
"He's got a little bit of a rib issue too. I mean, he hit him pretty good right there.
So just kind of talked about in our team meeting about what's legal, what's not legal, stuff like that, in the targets and all that kind of stuff. But he'll be I guess you could say more day-to-day, and we'll kind of evaluate it every single day," said LaFleur.
Trey Benson has also been absent from recent practice work, and his recovery from a meniscus injury has largely kept him to individual drills during camp. LaFleur said the staff is still taking a cautious approach with him.
"We're just taking it one day at a time with Trey right now. Truly, that's all I got for you with that," said LaFleur.
When asked whether Benson, who is on the roster bubble, could start the season on injured reserve, LaFleur said the team would need the game to finish before getting a better read.
"We'll probably have a better understanding of that, I would say, after we get out of this game."
The final update came on Gillikin, who was ruled out against Dallas after dealing with a groin injury. LaFleur said the team is not concerned about the issue long term, but is keeping him sidelined this week.
"He's good. We're going to keep him out this week, but we're not worried about anything long-term. I mean, there's no point in [having him] punt in this week," LaFleur said.
With Gillikin out, kicker Chad Ryland handled punting duties last week, and that setup appears likely to continue in Green Bay.
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