Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been ambiguous on his team’s health
In his last several appearances with the media, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been purposefully vague about the health of his team heading into the opening weekend of the 2022 NFL season.
His most recent comment came on August 31 when he mentioned that Rondale Moore, a young receiver expected to play a large role in the 2022 offense, would be a “close call” to play in the Week 1 opener against the Kansas City Chiefs in Glendale, AZ.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury says WR Rondale Moore is "day-to-day" with an injury.
— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) August 31, 2022
Kingsbury also mentioned two other key pieces of the Cardinals offense, Zach Ertz and Justin Pugh. His comment cast doubt on the availability of both veterans who are apparently dealing with nagging injuries. It had been reported previously that Pugh was dealing with a stinger and Ertz is nursing a calf injury of some kind.
Any issues with Ertz make the tight end room concerning with other veteran TE Maxx Williams still coming off a bad ACL injury suffered in the 2021 season. Rooke Trey McBride might be called on early to provide a spark at the position if both veterans are constrained by injuries or, worst-case scenario, out of the game completely for Week 1.
On the defensive side of the ball, Markus Golden is questionable with an unknown ailment/injury that has led some Cardinals fans to believe he is “holding in” for a new contract. There is currently no evidence to support that theory, but the availability of Golden is crucial for a pass rusher group that is now sans Devon Kennard and populated with young guys that are yet unproven in the NFL.
Is Kliff going for a competitive advantage?
It is always possible that the gloomy news from Kingsbury is a competitive ploy. We have seen coaches time and again be purposefully obfuscatory to keep opponents in the dark while game planning.
If the Chiefs don’t know if Golden is available how do they design their pass protection schemes?
If Rondale Moore is not available, how does the Chiefs’ secondary plan for a wide receiver group that will most likely consist of Hollywood Brown, AJ Green, and Greg Dortch?
Without Zach Ertz in the lineup, will the Chiefs feel less pressure to protect the middle of the field and put the majority of their attention on the outside receivers?
If I had to guess, I would say Kliff is obscuring the health situation of the Arizona Cardinals to provide a few extra unknowns for Andy Reid and staff to plan for in the Week 1 matchup between the two squads. Considering Kingsbury’s history of tightly concealing offensive schemes until using them in real games, it seems reasonable that he would relish an opportunity to perhaps bend the truth on some of the banged-up players on his team to confuse his opponent.
It is also possible that I am only hoping this is the case because I don’t want to face a reality in which Moore, Golden, Ertz, and Pugh will not be able to suit up on September 11. The losses of those players would absolutely impact the game in a very negative way for the Cardinals.
Still, hope remains that the situation is not as dire as it immediately appears based on Kingsbury’s comments. Visit azcardinals.com to find more of Kingsbury’s comments to the media.
