Recently, the Arizona Cardinals dropped to 2-4 on the young 2025 NFL season with a narrow road loss at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts. It was the fourth straight loss for a Cardinals team that raced out of the gates to a 2-0 start this year but still had many skeptics due to the easy strength of schedule, who have since been proven right about the team.
Still, it was an impressive effort from Arizona against a 5-1 Colts team, especially considering that the team was playing without Kyler Murray, with backup Jacoby Brissett taking his place instead. While they wait for more news on the Murray front, the Cardinals got a positive injury update on Wednesday regarding their first round draft pick from this past April.
“The #AZCardinals are opening the practice window for first-round DT Walter Nolen, per HC Jonathan Gannon. Nolen has been on the PUP list since the start of training camp,” reported NFL insider Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter.
Nolen played college football for both the Texas A&M Aggies and the Ole Miss Rebels, earning first-team All American honors for the latter during the 2024 season. The Cardinals selected him with the 16th overall pick in April, but he suffered a calf injury prior to the start of training camp, keeping him out of the lineup up to this point in the season. However, Wednesday's update could signal that his NFL debut might be coming sooner rather than later.
Still, the Nolen news is about the only thing that Cardinals fans have to be optimistic about at the current point in time. The good vibes from the 0-2 start are now firmly in the rearview mirror, and with Murray's health a perpetual question mark, it's difficult to envision any path back into contention for Arizona this year.
