The Cardinals had a bunch of players come back to practice this week, and -- barring anything between then and Sunday's third preseason game in Houston -- General Manager Steve Keim said the team will be in pretty good health against the Texans.
During his appearance on the "Doug and Wolf" show on Arizona Sports 98.7, Keim said that, after talking to head athletic trainer Tom Reed, the Cardinals may only have "one or two" players too injured to be available for the next game. Keim also said that rookie defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, who has been out since suffering a high-ankle sprain during quarterback school work and hasn't practice in camp, has a "good chance" to play against the Texans. Coach Bruce Arians said that Nkemdiche should be back at practice Wednesday.
Other news and thoughts from the Keim conversation:
-- Like Arians, Keim isn't worried about the Cardinals or their preseason performances in terms of how they will do in the regular season. But "we need to pick up our level of urgency." Keim said. "You can't go out when the season starts and turn the switch on. ... You can't sleepwalk through the preseason. (Friday) was a great lesson for our players."
-- Keim told MMQB.com's Peter King that it was a "chicken(expletive) call by me" not to take a chance on quarterback Russell Wilson in the 2012 draft, and that he "didn't have the balls to take Russell Wilson." Keim is constantly preaching the need to self-evaluate, and that certainly qualifies.
"He is a great learning lesson for all of us," Keim told Arizona Sports.
-- Aside from allowing a pressure on the first snap, Keim said he thought right tackle D.J. Humphries was better than his first game. Keim also liked how guard Evan Mathis played, and he likes the progress -- although it's slower -- of rookie OLs Cole Toner and Evan Boehm.
-- On the idea Arians would like the Cardinals to practice against another team a couple of times in next year's training camp: "I love it," Keim said. The Cardinals might try to visit one team for a week and host a team another week. A handful of NFL teams did that this year. Keim (and Arians) love the idea of going up against another team as a measuring stick and to break up the monotony of camp.
-- Keim said potential trade talks, with the Chargers or any other team, are ongoing and usually don't heat up until the end of the preseason.
-- There is still a learning curve for rookie cornerback Brandon Williams, Keim said, but "quite frankly, I thought (his struggles) would be a little worse." Keim is pleased with Williams' progress thus far.
