Though the Arizona Cardinals won’t officially release their final Friday injury report until later today, head coach Jonathan Gannon ruled out three key players for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. WR Michael Wilson, CB Starling Thomas V, and S Antonio Hamilton will sit out the team’s Week 13 game. That’s per Cardinals beat writer Darren Urban, relaying the message Friday morning.
Wilson is arguably the Cardinals’ most notable loss. A tall and fast rookie wideout from Stanford, he has been a big-play threat, averaging nearly 16 yards per reception. While he has caught only 28 receptions, he is the team’s targeted deep threat with five catches going for 20 or more yards. Without him, the team will have a group of receivers under six-feet tall, including Hollywood Brown (5-foot-9), Rondale Moore (5-foot-7), and Greg Dortch (5-foot-7). As Urban’s tweet notes, even Brown is dealing with a heel injury but it’s looking like he will play.
Thomas, a rookie from UAB, started the team’s last game against the Los Angeles Rams. He recorded three tackles before leaving with an ankle injury. The Cardinals have one of the youngest secondaries in football, one reason why they rank 31st in points per game allowed.
Hamilton had been seeing rotational playing time. Appearing in 10 games this year, he has notched 27 tackles with one interception. Arizona’s secondary will be populated by the likes of CB Marco Wilson, Kei’Trel Clark, and safeties Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson. Thompson has been battling a rib injury but is likely to play.
The Steelers and Cardinals kick off Sunday at 1 PM/EST.
