The Cardinals have lost #WR Early Doucet for the next 3-6 weeks due to sports hernia surgery.  Doucet played in the season opener against the Rams last week and he caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg).  Look for the Cardinals to give undrafted rookie WR Stephen Williams out of Toledo the first shot at Doucet’s old job while he is on the shelf.

The Cardinals have placed 29-year old inside linebacker Gerald Hayes on the reserve/PUP list with a back injury.  This means that Hayes will miss at least the Cardinals first six games this year.  Hayes played in 14 games (13 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he had 62 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  Hayes has now played in 88 games (60 starts) in his career with the Cardinals and he has 395 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 10 passes defensed, 4 interceptions and he has forced 7 fumbles.  The Cardinals will miss Hayes while he is out of action as he is a pretty good football player.

The Cardinals have placed 27-year old fullback Nehemiah Broughton on the Injured Reserve List with a torn ACL.  Broughton has not played in the NFL since 2007 with the Redskins.  He has played in 6 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has 1 carry for 3 yards.  The Cardinals will likely be scouring the waiver wire for a fullback on cut-down day.

The Cardinals will be without WR Larry Fitzgerald for the rest of the pre-season due to a MCL sprain.  He caught 1 pass for 16 yards in the opener of the pre-season before getting drilled.  It’s in the best interest of the team to let Fitzgerald rest up and this will give them a chance to look at the other WRs on the roster.  Matt Leinart needs to drill the ball to WRs when throwing over the middle so that no more receivers get hurt like Fitzgerald did.

The Arizona Cardinals have lost 30-year old OT Mike Gandy for the rest of the season due to sports hernia surgery.  He played in 12 games (all starts) for the Cardinals this season.  In his three years with the Cardinals, Gandy has played in 44 games starting all of them.  They will miss Gandy.

The Cardinals have placed safety Matt Ware on the Injured Reserve List with a knee problem.  Ware played in 11 games this season for the Cardinals and he made 24 tackles, defensed 1 pass, forced 1 fumble and he has 1 interception.  The Cardinals will miss Ware especially on special teams the last three weeks.

The Cardinals have signed 27-year old kicker Mike Nugent.  Nugent played in 4 games earlier this season for the Buccaneers and he only made 2 of 6 field goals (33.3%) and all six of his extra points which was good for 12 points.  Nugent has now played in 53 games in his 5 years in the NFL and he has connected on 77 of 98 field goals (77.6%) and 89 of 91 extra points which is good for 320 points.  Nugent will replace Neil Rackers this week whose injured groin needs rest.  Rackers has played in all 13 games for the Cardinals this season and he has made 16 of 17 field goals (94.1%) and he has connected on 36 of 37 extra points good for 84 points.  The Cardinals better keep their fingers crossed this week that the game doesn’t come down to Mike Nugent trying to win it with a field goal.

When Kurt Warner left the game with a “headache” last week the offense went into a shell against the Rams.  The Cards were lucky that Warner helped them build a big lead before he left the football game.  Warner is not acting his age this season as he has completed 251 of 372 passes (67.5%) for 2,718 yards with 20 TD passes and 11 INTs (94.4 QB Rating).  His drive and will to win is what really makes the offense of the Cardinals roll.  With Matt Leinart in the game the Cardinals are not a playoff team.  He has completed 17 of 25 passes (68%) for 119 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT (61.9 QB Rating).  So in summation the Cardinals can’t afford to lose Warner if they want to win the Super Bowl this season, period!

The Arizona Cardinals will be without 23-year old linebacker Will Davis for the next 4-6 weeks due to surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.  Davis has played in 10 games for the Cardinals this season and he has 13 tackles and 2 sacks.  He was a sixth round pick out of Illinois last April and the Cardinals are very pleased with his play so far this year. 

The Cardinals have lost TE Stephen Spach indefinately due to a high ankle sprain.  He has caught 3 passes for 16 yards (5.3 avg) this season for the Cardinals.  With the Cardinals using so many 3 WR sets they likely won’t miss Spach too much this season while he is out.  Anthony Becht will see a bump in playing time with Spach out of action.  He has caught 2 passes for 27 yards (13.5 avg) so far this season.  Becht won’t make a big difference for the Cardinals even with more playing time.