Cardinals activate Garrett Williams from PUP list

The Arizona Cardinals defense got a significant boost on Thursday, Aug. 20, with cornerback Garrett Williams activated off the physically unable to perform list.

Williams tore his Achilles in December and was initially targeting a midseason return. But over the course of the offseason, his progress evolved faster than the Cardinals had expected, enabling Thursday’s move.

Head coach Mike LaFleur said that there is still a process to fully reintegrate Williams into practice participation. The Cardinals, though, have more than three weeks until their regular season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 13. It seems likely, then, that Williams will be ready to start in that game.

If that’s the case, he will take over as the Cardinals’ nickel cornerback, a role that has been filled by Sean Murphy-Bunting during training camp.

“Right now, the plan is to play him inside,” LaFleur said. “... He does some really good stuff on the inside. Not that he can't on the outside, but that's where we'll start.”

In 2024, Williams performed like one of the Cardinals’ best defensive players in that nickel role.

Last season, under Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals expanded his role, as he played 117 snaps on the outside in addition to his work at nickel. The results were less encouraging, as Williams never quite found his groove amid a series of injuries, even prior to his torn Achilles.

Now, it appears that Williams’ role will once again be streamlined, with Will Johnson, Denzel Burke and Max Melton working as the Cardinals’ primary outside corners.

At one point this offseason, the Cardinals were optimistic that tight end Tip Reiman could be ready for the start of training camp, as he works his way back from an ankle injury sustained in October.

Now, he is not expected to be ready for Week 1, LaFleur announced.

The Cardinals could still activate Reiman from the PUP before Week 1, if they believe that he will be ready within the first month of the season. Players who begin the season on PUP are not eligible to be activated until after Week 4.

The most likely outcome, though, is that Reiman remains on PUP when the Cardinals trim their roster to 53 players on Aug. 30. In that scenario, they would likely keep Teagan Quitoriano or Rivaldo Fairweather as their third tight end.

Edge rusher Josh Sweat also remains on PUP, under bizarre circumstances, as the Cardinals have maintained that he is still working his way into football condition. On Thursday, LaFleur said, once again, that he expects Sweat to begin the season on the active roster.

“Josh is looking good,” LaFleur said.

The Cardinals will rest most of their key starters in their preseason game against the Cowboys on Saturday, Aug. 22, LaFleur announced. They will also likely be without rookie quarterback Carson Beck, who is still dealing with a ribs injury sustained in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 6.

“Most likely no,” LaFleur said. “He is gonna throw today after practice. He's feeling better. But most likely no.”

Beck practiced in full throughout the week immediately following the Hall of Fame game, but began to experience more discomfort as that week progressed. He is now back on the upswing, LaFleur said, but will likely not be ready against the Cowboys.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals activate Garrett Williams from PUP list