Carson Palmer, John Abraham Injury Updates

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer missed Sunday’s victory against the New York Giants with a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder, as he suffered the ailment on a scramble in the team’s Week 1 Monday Night Football comeback win over the San Diego Chargers. Palmer is a tough guy, and it looked like he would push the button by making the start, but it was all contingent on his ability to throw the ball well during pre-game warm-ups. That didn’t materialize, so he ended up on the wrong side of the game-time decision coin, with Drew Stanton drawing the start (Calais Campbell and Andre Ellington carried the Cards to victory over a struggling Giants squad).

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Raising Zona

Today, FOX Sports’s Alex Marvez informs us that Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians stated Palmer could be out for a day or even a month with this nerve injury. It jibes with what Palmer said himself following Sunday’s game, so there’s clearly no timetable here. It’s a fluid situation for sure, so consider him a toss-up for the second straight week, though this week’s battle against the San Francisco 49ers is going to be much tougher for the Cards to win if Stanton starts. I mean, they can’t count on Colin Kaepernick putting together another interception-filled performance, even with their athletic secondary.

Speaking of stopping Kaepernick, they also need the edge rush to give Campbell some more help. Per Marvez, Arians stated that veteran pass rusher John Abraham still hasn’t cleared the concussion protocol, and he added that he spoke “extensively” with the former Atlanta Falcons star. Abraham has suffered several concussions in his career, so he was contemplating hanging them up at one point but will soldier on. Hopefully he can return this week. If not, the Cards will have to hope newly minted OLB Victor Butler can round into health and form, because he is a talented, underrated edge rusher.