When the NFL schedule was announced last Thursday (May 12), only portions of each team’s preseason schedule were known.
For the Cardinals, three opponents were revealed – Cincinnati, Baltimore and Tennessee – but the only game with a specified date and time was the Sunday, Aug. 21 home matchup against the Ravens that will be televised nationally on Fox beginning at 5 p.m. Arizona time.
It can now be revealed that the game against the Bengals will be in Cincinnati on Friday, Aug. 12 at 4:30 pm Arizona time and the game against the Titans on the road is set for Saturday, Aug. 27 at 4 pm Arizona time.
Last year, when the regular-season schedule was expanded to 17 games, the preseason slate was reduced to three. In alternating years, each team will either have nine regular-season home games and one preseason game at home, or eight regular-season games at home and two at home in the preseason.
For 2022, one of the Cardinals’ home games will be in Mexico City against the 49ers on Monday, Nov. 21.
OTAs Begin
The Cardinals' OTAs begin next week with three workouts scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (May 23-25). The Monday session will be open to the media. NFL teams are required to have one of every three open.
After next week, the OTAs will be June 1-3 and June 6-9 followed by the mandatory minicamp June 14-16.
OTAs are voluntary, which begs the question: Will quarterback Kyler Murray be present next week?
Stay tuned.
Crawford Retires
Local fans didn’t get to know long-time defensive end Jack Crawford, but it turns out the last NFL contract he signed was with the Cardinals.
Crawford, who played 109 games with 35 starts in stops at Oakland (fifth-round pick in 2012), Dallas, Atlanta and Tennessee, announced on Twitter this week that he is retiring. During his career, he had 18.0 sacks, 165 tackles, three forced fumbles and an interception.
Born in London, Crawford attended high school in New Jersey and then played at Penn State.
He wrote, “After 10 seasons in the NFL, I know my time has come to step away from the game and close the chapter of my life in the league. At 16 years old, I left my family and friends in the U.K. and moved to the U.S. I couldn’t have imagined the journey that lay ahead of me, it feels like it flew by and I’m grateful for every minute.”
Crawford became an unrestricted free agent in 2021 and was signed by the Cardinals after training camp started on Aug. 11 because of multiple injuries on the defensive line.
He played in preseason games against the Cowboys (Aug. 13) and Chiefs (Aug. 20), but did not practice on Aug. 23, presumably because of an unknown injury suffered against Kansas City.
He was placed on reserve/injured Aug. 24 and remained there for the entire season before becoming an unrestricted free agent March 16.
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