The Cardinals are also banged up at wide receiver – Green was limited; Rondale Moore and Antoine Wesley remain sidelined – and at cornerback, where Antonio Hamilton is dealing with an undisclosed malady.
Most of the starters, who won’t get game snaps in the preseason, did get a taste of battling another team’s starters, finally.
“My favorite part was everything,” safety Budda Baker said. “One-on-ones, 7s, two-minute. We’ll get in all those situations in a game.”
Baker even said the barking at the offense was fun.
“We still talk trash to our teammates (normally), but this is a new face,” Baker said. “You can say the same jokes and it’s the first time they’re hearing it.”
Kingsbury was the one who reached out to his former Patriots teammate and Titans coach Mike Vrabel to get together for the joint work. It’s something Kingsbury would like to do most preseasons, as long as logistics allow.
Not playing most of the starters in preseason games is a philosophy Kingsbury is now embracing, so joint work makes even more sense.
It certainly brought out the best in Hopkins Wednesday.
“Any time you feel that competitive spirit lift up, here comes Hop,” Kingsbury said. “I’m sure he’s got some good content for his IG now.”
