Arizona Cardinals embark on Week 7 with Kliff Kingsbury still sidelined

TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals picked up a decisive win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday despite head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s absence due to testing positive for COVID-19 a few days prior.

When the Cardinals took the field for the first day of Week 7 practice, the head coach — along with his straw hat — was still not among them, a sign Kingsbury was still waiting to be cleared.

It’s safe to say Kingsbury is officially day-to-day, a term Kingsbury so often uses when answering questions about players’ availability, ironically.

“Right now, he’s in the protocols still and every day he’s getting better and better and we’ll see by the end of the week how it works out,” defensive coordinator and acting head coach Vance Joseph said Wednesday.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury is still in COVID-19 protocols, per DC Vance Joseph.

“He has a lot of time to be a (football) scientist right now.” pic.twitter.com/jjO9v9861F

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) October 20, 2021

Kingsbury isn’t able to be physically present until he has two negative tests back-to-back. That doesn’t mean he isn’t still heavily involved in the preparation for the Houston Texans.

“Everything. Everything,” Joseph said when asked what Kingsbury has been able to do away from the team. “Obviously, the offensive game plan, and he’s obviously built that this week. There’s been a bunch of virtual meetings with offensive staff and the entire staff, obviously.

“So, nothing’s changed as far as who is building the game plan right now, and it’s Kliff. It’s his plan, and he has a lot of time right now to obviously be a scientist, so he’s enjoying that time. He misses the team, obviously, but he’s enjoying the time to study football.”

EXTRA POINT

– Quarterback Kyler Murray on the report that Kingsbury was working on the Texans game plan instead of watching the Browns game:

“I don’t know what he was doing. I can only imagine not being there. I know it was tough on him. Obviously, it’s unfortunate that he got COVID or whatever. But I heard he didn’t watch the game. I don’t know, but if that’s what you heard, that’s what he was doing. I don’t know.”

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