Dealing Cards: Carson Palmer ‘looked great’ in Friday’s practice
Oct 21, 2016, 2:59 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
TEMPE, Ariz. — And on Friday, he practiced.
Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, who did not practice Wednesday or Thursday, was back on the field with his teammates Friday in preparation for Sunday’s tilt with the Seattle Seahawks.
Asked about how Palmer looked Friday, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said the 36-year-old “looked great, he looked fine,” though he said the team lined him up in the Pistol formation so as to not force him to stretch too much to hand the ball off.
Arians said that was no big deal, however, and doesn’t plan on having to run that style of offense Sunday because with another 48 hours of rest, he expects Palmer to be fine.
Palmer originally injured the hamstring late in Monday night’s 28-3 win over the New York Jets, and afterwards neither he nor Arians expressed much concern over it being a legitimate problem. Arians said Friday that it really was not any worse than they thought, but that they gave Palmer a couple days off because it made sense.
“Wednesday was his normal day off and yesterday was just precautionary,” he said.
Injury update
The official injury report can be found here, and on Friday Arians declared defensive lineman Ed Stinson (toe) out for Sunday’s game. He added linebacker Gabe Martin (knee) is “doubtful” for the game, receiver Jaron Brown (knee) practiced and “looked fine.” Receiver John Brown, he said, is dealing with a sickle cell trait, but has not been ruled out for Sunday.
More on Brown
Arians said the sickle cell trait issue with John Brown was discovered via a blood test Thursday, which was ordered because an MRI showed no problem with his ailing hamstrings and he recently started having pain in other parts of his legs.
The third-year pro caught five passes for 54 yards against the Jets, but has been dealing with hamstring issues for a while. He had a problem last year, too, and Arians said the sickle cell trait could have been the culprit.
According to the CDC, sickle cell trait is inherited from at least one parent but is not considered to be a disease. People who have it generally do not show any symptoms and live normal lives.
However:
Some people with SCT have been shown to be more likely than those without SCT to experience heat stroke and muscle breakdown when doing intense exercise, such as competitive sports or military training under unfavorable temperatures( very high or low) or conditions.
Studies have shown that the chance of this problem can be reduced by avoiding dehydration and getting too hot during training.
In terms of Brown’s status going forward, Arians said it’s possible Brown could be fine and ready to go by Sunday.
“It’s his body just getting rid of lactic acid and his red blood cells working properly,” he said.
Brown is surely not the only athlete to deal with this, and in the NFL the Falcons’ Tevin Coleman and former Steelers safety Ryan Clark were both known to have the trait.
The only real concern for each was when they played in Denver in the higher altitude, but otherwise it did not seem to be much of an issue.
With that in mind, Arians said he thinks Brown is very happy with the diagnosis because he now knows why his legs have been hurting so bad.
“It really started pregame before the game the other night,” he said.
Other notes
– Arians said guard Mike Iupati (ankle) looks fine.
“I was concerned that if he was laterally limited, this isn’t a game he needs to be in, but he’s been fine,” he said.
– Despite Russell Wilson only having 35 rushing yards this season, Arians believes the QB’s mobility is just about back to pre-injury levels.
“It’s not slowing him down any with the brace on, and he looks almost like his normal self,” he said.
Arians attributes the low rushing yardage total to scheme more than a lack of ability.
“I wouldn’t be surprised for him to pull it down and go with it in this game,” the coach added.
