Bruce Arians isn’t willing to risk anything for the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, and will rest his starters, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Cardinals — who didn’t know this offseason whether or not they’d get another season out of Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald — don’t want to risk injury in the first preseason game of the year.
Fitzgerald will be happy to hear his coach say that. He wasn’t pleased upon learning that his team would be participating in the game that’s nothing but a risk and burden for those partaking:
Worst news ever! 5 pre season games & an extra week of training camp. Smh...
— Larry Fitzgerald (@LarryFitzgerald) February 23, 2017
At least we can go to the @WGC_Bridgestone. Lol
Along with the starters, backup quarterback Drew Stanton will be sitting out the game, according to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra. That means it’s time for the Blaine Gabbert show in the first half, and undrafted rookie Trevor Knight in the second half.
Arians also told reporters that the field looked good, referencing last year’s disaster of a game — or lack thereof. The game had to be canceled because the field’s playing conditions were so bad. Players described the field as “hard as concrete.”
While it’s not unusual for starters to skip out on preseason games, the Hall of Fame game has been particularly dangerous in recent memory, because of the conditions on the field.
The game is going to be a dud, but the good news is that the quality can only go up from there.