PERSONNEL NEWS

Strategy And Personnel

The Sports Xchange

October 11, 2018 at 3:02 am.

PLAYER NOTES

–RT Andre Smith hasn’t been healthy since the start of the season when he left in the opener because of an elbow injury, missed the next three games entirely, and then was forced to leave Sunday’s game at the 49ers because off a pulled hamstring. Smith did not practice on Wednesday, although he said he definitely planned on playing in Sunday’s game when the Cardinals play at the Vikings.

–LT D.J. Humphries (knee) and LG Mike Iupati (elbow/shoulder) did not practice on Wednesday, but head coach Steve Wilks said he expected both of them to be ready Sunday at Minnesota.

–RB David Johnson is on pace to finish with just 774 rushing yard and only 384 receiving yards after leading the league in total yards from scrimmage in 2016. Johnson said he’s confident he and the Cardinals will get the team’s rushing game untracked. “Just keep grinding,” Johnson said. “Just keep grinding and doing what they pay me to do, doing what the coaches and my teammates expect me to do and we’ll get through it for sure.”

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: DE Chandler Jones is coming off his best game of the season for the Cardinals. Last Sunday at the 49ers, he finished with six tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a key batted down pass on a two-point conversion try. Jones has four sacks and at least one in 19 of his last 23 games. Dating back to 2016, no one has more sacks in the league than Jones (26).

GAME PLAN: The Cardinals will keep trying to get their running game untracked, but they haven’t been able to do it yet and there’s no reason to think it will magically get resolved against a defense like Minnesota. The Vikings can be susceptible at the linebacker position if the Cardinals can get the right matchups. The problem is, they haven’t been able to get David Johnson in the right situations where he can exploit slower or smaller defenders. The Cardinals rank last in the league in rushing offense, averaging just 64.6 yards per game, and Johnson is on pace to finish with just 774 rushing yards and 48 receptions for 384 yards. That’s a far cry from his All-Pro season of 2016, when he rushed 293 times for 1,239 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught 80 passes for 879 yards and four touchdowns. The Cardinals’ passing attack, meanwhile, has only gotten slightly better since rookie Josh Rosen replaced Sam Bradford. Arizona ranks second-to-last with just 146 passing yards per game and veteran Larry Fitzgerald has been held to seven total catches the past three weeks, albeit while playing with a sore hamstring.

Defensively, the Cardinals will try to pressure quarterback Kirk Cousins whenever they can by unleashing defensive end Chandler Jones and trying to get more disruption out of fellow end Markus Golden, who has been slow to get off the blocks in his return from a torn ACL. Arizona hasn’t been happy with two of its three primary linebackers, as Deone Bucannon and Haason Reddick each have been in and out of the starting lineup. Whichever one of them is in on Sunday will need to be mindful of Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, should he play after missing the past six quarters with a hamstring injury. Cornerback Patrick Peterson will shadow either Adam Thielen or Stefon Diggs, which will neutralize half of the Vikings’ primary targets, but Bene’ Benwikere will have to be able to shut down the receiver Peterson doesn’t cover for the Cardinals to have a chance. Arizona had five takeaways last week against the 49ers and will need to win the turnover battle again.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH

–Cardinals DE Chandler Jones vs. Vikings LT Riley Reiff. Reiff has been dealing with a foot injury for the past few weeks and missed the second half of last Sunday’s game against the Eagles. If he plays against the Cardinals, Jones could have a field day because of his speed and unpredictable pass-rushing moves. Minnesota will slide right tackle Rashod Hill over to the left side to try and fend off Jones if Reiff can’t go, but that’s a matchup Jones should still win most of the time.

–Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald vs. Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes. Fitzgerald is off to one of the slowest starts of his 15-year career but one has to think there will be a game where he absolutely goes off and has a huge day. Could it come this Sunday against Rhodes? After being held to just seven total receptions the last three weeks, Fitzgerald seems overdue for a breakout moment. The Cardinals still like to move him around, playing him both on the outside and inside at the slot, so Trae Waynes will likely also get time covering Fitzgerald.

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