Cardinals place Will Hernandez on IR, activate Hayden Conner, add 2 others from practice squad

The Arizona Cardinals made a handful of roster moves on Saturday, including placing starting right guard Will Hernandez on injured reserve.

Hernandez (hip/knee) did not practice this week and was ruled out on Friday. Hernandez has played in seven games this season and appeared in just five games in 2024 due to a knee injury.

Isaiah Adams is expected to start at right guard for the Cardinals.

Rookie guard Hayden Conner was also activated from injured reserve, where he had been since the preseason.

Tight end Pharaoh Brown and linebacker Channing Tindall were brought up to the active roster as standard practice squad elevations.

More about Cardinals’ additions ahead of Buccaneers matchup

Conner was selected by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft out of Texas. He suffered a knee injury three plays into the opening drive in a loss to the Denver Broncos during Week 2 of the preseason and has been out since.

The Cardinals signed Brown to the practice squad in October, and he has been elevated for three games in a row. Brown has 89 games of experience over eight NFL seasons after entering the league with the then-Oakland Raiders as an undrafted rookie out of Oregon.

The wide receiver has spent time with Oakland (2017), Cleveland (2019, 2022), Houston (2020-22), New England (2023) and Seattle (2024).

The Cardinals’ Week 11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers was Brown’s first game with Arizona, where he was called for a holding penalty which nullified Bam Knight’s 60-yard touchdown.

Tindall was signed to the practice squad in September and made his Cardinals debut last week, playing exclusively on special teams. He had 16 tackles over 44 games with the Miami Dolphins (2022-24).

The Cardinals still have 52 on their active roster after releasing linebacker Xavier Thomas on Friday.

The Cardinals take on the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.

Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and can be heard on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app with play-by-play man Dave Pasch and color commentator A.Q. Shipley on the call.

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