Cardinals re-sign TE Maxx Williams to practice squad

The Arizona Cardinals signed Maxx Williams to the practice squad on Monday, three days after the team released the tight end from the 53-man roster.

Arizona released practice squad receiver C.J. Board in order to complete the signing.

Williams appeared in the first four games of the year but topped out at 23 snaps in Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers. Williams, a blocking specialist, did not record a catch yet this year.

“Maxx is banged up right now and we’re just trying to get him to a point where he can practice and get healthier,” Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday.

“There’s nobody that we all respect and love more than Maxx. He’s a tremendous guy, a great teammate, obviously been a great part of this organization,” he added. “His whole thing is we just got to get him healthy and ready to play and get that ankle some flexibility and the knee to be able to work in a productive manner for him to get back out there on the field, so we’ll see moving forward.”

The departure left the Cardinals with three tight ends on the 53-man roster: Zach Ertz, Trey McBride and Stephen Anderson.

McBride, a rookie second-round pick, was buried on the bench during the first three games but saw a significant uptick in action two weeks ago, playing 32 snaps (42% of those available) and making three catches for 24 yards.

He played 17 snaps (25%) of the snaps on Sunday in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I think it’s a huge vote of confidence,” Keim said of McBride before the latest game. “Obviously with Trey McBride stepping up and really coming on, I think that really put us in a position where we’re going to have to get more out of him and use him more obviously in the passing game and some of the stuff Maxx did in the run game as well.”

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