Cardinals sign CBs Isaiah Johnson, Nate Brooks to practice squad

The Cardinals signed free agent cornerbacks Isaiah Johnson and Nate Brooks to the team’s practice squad on Wednesday.

Brooks joined the Cardinals after going undrafted in 2019 and has since played for the Miami Dolphins (2019) and Baltimore Ravens (2020). Over four NFL games with two starts, he has 11 tackles with two passes defensed.

Brooks also has been on the practice squads for New England, Baltimore and Tennessee.

Johnson entered the league as a Raiders fourth-round draft pick out of Houston in 2019.

His NFL career got off to a rough start after the cornerback was placed on injured reserve his rookie season due to a concussion and facial injury suffered in the team’s preseason finale, resulting in just five games played.

In two seasons with the Raiders (19 games), Johnson recorded 15 tackles and five passes defensed.

After being waived this past August by Las Vegas, Johnson spent time on the both the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers practice squads this offseason.

Johnson’s reported signing comes amid injury and COVID-19 concerns for the Cardinals secondary. As it stands, Byron Murphy is the lone starting CB healthy, with Antonio Hamilton seeing an uptick in reps. Kevin Peterson and Jace Whittaker are also on the practice squad.

On Monday, Arizona was reportedly set to sign recently waived cornerback Bashaud Breeland, but was forced to wait after the DB tested positive for COVID-19.

The following day, the Cardinals’ depth at cornerback took another hit, with practice squad CB Breon Borders getting placed on the COVID-19 list, joining linebacker Markus Golden and offensive lineman Sean Harlow.

This all coming after starting cornerback Marco Wilson was forced out of Saturday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts with a shoulder injury.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury told Cardinals reporters on Monday that Wilson was still being evaluated and the team would likely know more Wednesday.

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