Arizona Cardinals WR Michael Floyd, TEs Jermaine Gresham and Troy Niklas active Week 1
Sep 13, 2015, 12:10 PM | Updated: 12:31 pm
An injured Arizona Cardinals' Michael Floyd paces the sidelines while holding a football during an NFL football training camp practice Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Despite missing the entire preseason and all but five days of training camp, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd is expected to play in the season opener.
He’s not among the seven actives.
Neither are tight ends Jermaine Gresham and Troy Niklas, both of whom were questionable with bothersome hamstrings.
That Floyd is available Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints should not come as a surprise. The former first-round draft pick out of Notre Dame is five weeks removed from suffering three dislocated fingers during a 1-on-1 drill in training camp Aug. 5.
Floyd was limited all week in practice.
“I’m feeling good,” he said Friday. “I think I can (play). I think it is all mentally when you have an injury like this or any injury. You just got to stay positive with it. If I didn’t feel that I could play, I wouldn’t be practicing at all.”
Added head coach Bruce Arians, “He’s looked pretty solid. The big for him is with that brace being able to hold onto the ball.”
Floyd plans to wear a brace to protect his left hand.
“It’s very annoying but it protects me from getting hit on it, so whatever to keep me healthy, that’s what I’ll do,” he said.
Last season, Floyd finished with a team-leading 841 yards and six touchdowns on 47 receptions playing all 16 games, including 15 starts.
With Gresham and Niklas in uniform, the Cardinals will dress three tight ends, led by returning starter Darren Fells.
Among the inactives, only left guard Mike Iupati (knee) is dealing with an injury.
The rest are quarterback Matt Barkley, wide receiver Brittan Golden, linebacker Shaq Riddick, offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, tight end Joseph Fauria and nose tackle Xavier Williams.
Fauria was just signed Thursday when Ifeanyi Momah (knee) was placed on season-ending injured reserve.
For the Saints, quarterback Garrett Grayson, cornerback Keenan Lewis, running back C.J. Spiller, safety Jarius Byrd, defensive end Obum Gwacham, linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and defensive tackle Kaleb Eullls will not dress.
