Oftentimes, you can tell who is still fighting for a roster spot based on the snaps they get in the second half of the last preseason game. In the outside linebacker room, rookie Xavier Thomas didn't play. Victor Dimukeje got some work and was done early. But Jesse Luketa and Cam Thomas were out there the whole game.

"I'm exhausted," Luketa admitted.

Each had a sack -- it was the third in the last two games for Thomas -- and these two guys from the last draft class that was not Monti Ossenfort's are hoping that they stick around. The position is an interesting one, with inside linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. able to give the Cardinals some snaps off the edge and perhaps someone like Darius Robinson (once he gets back on the field) going from defensive line to outside once in a while.

Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck will start. Thomas and Dimukeje will be there. So, with BJ Ojulari out for the season, could the Cardinals keep five at the position, or even six?

This is the drama that will be the next couple of days.

"I'm going to keep my phone on," Luketa said. "I feel like I have done everything I could do."

-- I don't know what would have happened with undrafted rookie Xavier Weaver if Zay Jones had not been suspended, but the Cardinals have a spot in the wide receiver room now and Weaver might've snared it. He can help in the return game and his 43-yard catch Sunday off a broken play/scramble drill and his speed can help this team.

-- If you want a sense of the last preseason game and how the Cardinals approached it, here was the starting offensive line, left tackle to right tackle: Jackson Barton, Elijah Wilkinson, Trystan Colon, Jon Gaines II, Christian Jones.

-- Someone compared the rash of injuries the Cardinals suffered to the preseason game in Minnesota in 2000 on that awful Metrodome turf. (That was my first season covering the Cards.) That was worse, because starting wideout Rob Moore tore his ACL and there were a couple of other ligament injuries. But it was a bad day to be a Jones -- Christian (knee), Elijah (ankle) and Tony (shoulder) all had to leave the game -- and QB Desmond Ridder is in concussion protocol. Safety Darren Hall (hip), who had made a case to make the team, also had to leave. We will see how it ultimately impacts Tuesday's choices.

-- Matt Prater made a 50-yard field goal and even as he gets older, he's still the king there. Prater did miss (just left) a 55-yarder early in the game, but he has proven he will be there when the Cards need him.

-- It's going to be a footnote for most, but new tight end Sage Surratt hurt his ankle when tackle Christian Jones fell on it at the end of a running play. Surratt was just standing near the pile when Jones rolled, and it didn't look pleasant. Was Surratt going to make this team? No. But he would prefer to be healthy to try and find another place to play, and the Cardinals would've preferred to be able to straight release him to do so. His situation is now complicated, and it's another layer of the final preseason game.

-- In the battle for QB2, I'm not sure much changed from what we have seen. Clayton Tune's numbers were better. But he was also sacked three more times, bringing his total in a little more than six quarters of play eight total sacks. Some of that is the offensive line but it's a high number. And after Ridder got hurt, Tune had a Pick-6.

That's all for this afternoon. There will be a lot of news over the next couple of days. Time to get to the regular season.