ARIZONA - The Arizona Cardinals are back home from the team's Hall of Fame Game on Thursday ready to attack the next phase of preseason play.
They'll do so without two players moving forward.
According to the official team site, the Cardinals are placing safety Joey Blount and tight end Kenny Yeboah on injured reserve, ending their seasons.
Blount was hurt during a training camp practice earlier this week while Yeboah injured his hamstring on Thursday.
They now join P.J. Mustipher, Kaleb Proctor and Jaden Davis as Cardinals who are on injured reserve. Players such as Josh Sweat, Garrett Williams and Tip Reiman are still on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list.
Blount was a backup in terms of safety depth, though he carved out a role as a key special teams player and was set to again make that impact in 2026.
Now, the Cardinals shift their plans without Blount in the picture. Defensively, the depth chart likely doesn't change with Budda Baker, Andrew Wingard and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson in the mix at the top. Kitan Crawford is now comfortably the fourth safety on the roster while Isaiah Oliver potentially slides up.
On special teams, this will put an extra emphasis on guys who can play that phase of the ball when it comes to trimming down the team's roster to 53 at the end of the preseason. When narrowing down the final handful of players, special teams is already important - though Blount's departure now creates a fairly big hole the Cardinals have to fill.
Yeboah was listed as the Cardinals' fourth-string tight end on their initial depth chart, falling behind the likes of Trey McBride, Elijah Higgins and Teagan Quitoriano. When Reiman is eventually healthy, he'll be Arizona's TE3 - pushing Quitoriano and others down the depth chart.
For the time being, Rivaldo Fairweather and Jameson Geers will battle for extra opportunities in the tight end room.
After a two-day break, the Cardinals are back to work on Sunday for their annual Red-White practice with training camp set to conclude early next week. Arizona travels to Las Vegas to battle Fernando Mendoza and the Raiders on Thursday for their second preseason battle.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/cardinals/onsi as Cardinals Lose 2 Players to Season-Ending Injuries After Hall of Fame Game .
