The Kansas City Chiefs are getting prepared to face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.
One of the challenges within that preparation is knowing which players you’ll need to prepare for. The Cardinals are dealing with a host of injuries and hence uncertainty at a variety of different positions at the onset of the practice week.
The most notable doubt is surrounding a cornerback group that has suffered some significant and tragic losses.
Jeff Gladney was killed in a car accident earlier this offseason.
A player that the Chiefs are familiar with, Antonio Hamilton, had won a starting role with Arizona during training camp and the preseason. He recently was placed on the NFI list for a minimum of four games after a cooking accident left him with severe burns.
The Cards traded for Raiders CB Trayvon Mullen around the 53-man deadline, but he has yet to participate in a practice with the team, potentially due to an injury issue.
“We have had some things out of our control that have happened over the last six months,” Kingsbury told reporters on Monday. “It doesn’t make it easy, but we’re trying to do some things to fix that over the next few weeks. We’ll see how it plays out. You’d like to have a little more depth and experience going into this one, but everyone is dealing with something.”
Byron Murphy Jr. and Marco Wilson figure to be starters at cornerback in Week 1, but their depth is spread thin at the position. Kingsbury knows just how dire it is, especially when facing a top-tier quarterback like Patrick Mahomes.
“Not ideal, that’s for sure,” he said.
While the cornerback situation is certainly worth monitoring, the Cardinals could also be without one of their top pass-rushers. Markus Golden, who led Arizona with 11 sacks in 2021, has been sitting out of practice with a toe injury.
Kingsbury is hopeful that Golden will be able to practice and play in a limited capacity, but he described him as a game-time decision.
“We’ll continue to progress him and hopefully Wednesday he can do something,” Kingsbury said. “He’s a guy that if he even has limited practices, there’ll be a role for him. But we’ll see how it plays out.”
As for TE Zach Ertz, who has been dealing with a calf injury, he’s in the same boat as Golden.
“He’ll be like (Markus Golden), he’s just going to be day-to-day,” Kingsbury said. “I think Wednesday will be a big day to see how he feels when we get back out there.”
Wednesday will be a big day for the Cardinals with the first official injury report arriving. The last thing they want to do is start the season short-handed against a team like Kansas City.
