Cardinals open practice window for rookie Walter Nolen III
The Cardinals are opening rookie defensive lineman Walter Nolen III's practice window on Wednesday, according to head coach Jonathan Gannon.
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TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals are opening rookie defensive lineman and 2025 first-round pick Walter Nolen III’s practice window on Wednesday, according to head coach Jonathan Gannon.
“Take it day-by-day, he hasn’t played football in a while, but he’s fired up,” Gannon said.
Nolen started the season on the physically unable to perform list after missing the entirety of training camp and the preseason due to a calf injury picked up during offseason training.
The rookie now has 21 days to be activated off the PUP list.
With Darius Robinson dealing with a pec injury and L.J. Collier on injured reserve, getting Nolen back would at the very least help round out the depth in the DL room.
The trio of Calais Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson and Robinson have been the Cardinals’ main starting options along the line of scrimmage this season.
Dante Stills has slid in for Robinson, with P.J. Mustipher, Bilal Nichols and Zach Carter rounding out the rotation.
Robinson will also return to practice on Wednesday.
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Comments
2 Comments
‘Bout time…need Oljulari too. Opposing QBs too comfortable in the pocket. Thank goodness for Calais but he can’t do it alone and for a whole season.
I really hope Robinson is past his pec injury, because when he last played vs Seattle, when paired with Calais he gave the Cardinals Defensive Line something it hasn't had since Darnell Dockett. In that game, it was as if the light had gone on for Robinson, his effort level massively increasing. I really look forward to seeing him on Sunday. Robinson is a game changer.
I'm also really interested in seeing what Nolen can do. His college tape is beyond impressive. A lot of experts compared his performance to what Jalen Carter displayed at Georgia. Tape shows instances where he shows great quickness and explosion for a man his size, but it's the power and strength the film glimpses that's the most impressive. On tape, Nolen completely overpowers 300 lb plus SEC Defensive lineman who are trying to block him, throwing them around like they were the size of RBs. As I've read, before he got hurt he flashed enough glimpses of those same traits in training camp to get them excited, especially about a man his size having a motor. I assume it will take a few weeks to get his conditioning where he can be activated. It would appear that Nolen would be slotted as a replacement for Calais.