Arizona’s backup center was already playing right guard when the starting center appeared on Thursday’s injury report. That is the problem hidden inside an otherwise improving practice list: Hayden Conner can offer the Cardinals flexibility, but he cannot fill two jobs at once.
Hjalte Froholdt was newly listed with a knee injury and participated on a limited basis. Right guard Jon Gaines II remained out of practice with an ankle issue. Conner’s current assignment at guard, reported by the club, makes those two developments connected.
If Arizona needs a different center, moving the usual backup there could reopen the place he has been covering. The Cardinals have not announced such a move, or ruled Froholdt out against Dallas. They do have a preparation problem that extends beyond counting who returned to the field.
The return count, taken by itself, was encouraging. Seven players who missed Wednesday participated Thursday. Some of that improvement was routine: Budda Baker, Josh Sweat and Isaac Seumalo had been listed for rest.
Others had missed work with physical issues or illness. A shorter list of absentees is welcome, but it does not tell Arizona where its remaining gaps are concentrated. Gaines was still absent, and Froholdt’s new listing placed uncertainty immediately beside him.
Seumalo’s full participation was particularly useful for an offensive line already juggling assignments. His Wednesday absence had been a rest designation; Thursday brought him back without the limited-work category attached to Froholdt. Elijah Wilkinson also returned, moving from no participation because of a knee issue to limited work.
The right tackle’s presence gives Arizona a more encouraging picture on the edge of the line. It does not settle the center-and-guard pairing inside him, but it leaves the club with fewer simultaneous questions than another missed practice would have done.
That combination deserves a measured reading. Froholdt’s limited work is not an announcement that Conner must move. Wilkinson’s return is not confirmation that the right side is ready for Sunday.
Still, the changes are materially different: one player returned to practice, one returned fully after rest, and another became a new concern. Calling the whole report good news would miss Froholdt. Calling it a fresh collapse would ignore Seumalo and Wilkinson.
Arizona’s choices became more complicated in the middle while becoming more promising elsewhere.
