Walter Nolen III, 2 others start Cardinals training camp on PUP list

The Arizona Cardinals will begin training camp with 2025 first-round pick Walter Nolen, pass rusher BJ Ojulari and defensive lineman Bilal Nichols on the the PUP list due to injuries, head coach Jonathan Gannon said as training camp opened on Wednesday.

More from Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon on Walter Nolen III, Bilal Nichols and BJ Ojulari starting training camp on the shelf. pic.twitter.com/RgXETBrZwZ

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Nolen, the 16th overall pick, is dealing with a calf injury picked up during offseason training. Gannon is unsure if his injury could leak into the preseason or regular season.

“He’s recovering, rehabbing, and he’ll get out there when he needs to get out there, but he’s going to miss some time,” Gannon said.

Ojulari was lost for all of last season after going down with a torn ACL in last year’s training camp.

He’s been rehabbing ever since and wasn’t seen during the open portion of Arizona’s offseason programs.

When healthy, the third-year pass rusher could play an important role within the revamped rotation led by Josh Sweat, Zaven Collins and Baron Browning.

With Ojulari sidelined to start training camp, that means more reps for rookie Jordan Burch and second-year pro Xavier Thomas.

Nichols, meanwhile, made it six games before a stinger/neck injury sidelined him the rest of the way.

He and Nolen now start camp behind the eight ball in a competitive DL room that includes Calais Campbell, Dalvin Tomlinson, Darius Robinson, Dante Stills and L.J. Collier.

Undrafted rookie Elijah Simmons is another name to watch.

“Each injury’s a little bit different, each guy’s a little bit different,” Gannon added. “We’ll get rolling and other guys will get ready to go and they’ll get ready to go. They’re wanting to be out there with their teammates and practice, and we need all three. But when they’re healthy, they’ll play.”

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