Arizona Cardinals place 6 players in COVID-19 protocols

The Arizona Cardinals placed six players in COVID-19 protocols on Thursday.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said during his press conference that those players are center Rodney Hudson, guard Justin Pugh, tackle Kelvin Beachum and wide receivers Andy Isabella and KeeSean Johnson.

Wide receiver Isaac Whitney was also added to the list later in the day.

Kingsbury said he expects Hudson back on Aug. 2.

The additions come one day after the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson reported that OL Shaq Calhoun and WR Rico Gafford were placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.

Cornerback Lorenzo Burns was also placed on the list last week.

The Cardinals have a total of nine players currently in protocols.

Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that the Cardinals had reached the 90% mark for players being vaccinated.

“We felt like it was headed in the right direction. I think our organization has done a great job presenting information,” Kingsbury said Thursday. “The NFL has done a great job presenting these guys with necessary information so these guys can make sound decisions and it’s good to see that that number has risen.

“I think our guys have been thorough in their process. They’re professional athletes, these are their bodies and they want to collect all the information they can to make the best decision they can make for their careers, their families moving forward and that’s what they’ve done.”

This comes after the team had passed 50% as of July 16, putting Arizona among the last four teams to surpass the halfway point.

Kingsbury said on Tuesday that his entire coaching staff had received their COVID-19 vaccine.

“Yeah, if we wanted to be in the building, we had to be vaccinated,” he said when asked if it was an ultimatum for his staff.

The NFL said Thursday that league-wide, 87.9% of players have received at least one shot of the vaccine.

Follow @AZSports