Center Hjalte Froholdt will miss his first start since joining the Cardinals in 2023. Froholdt did not clear concussion protocol, ruling him out for Sunday’s game against the Rams.
Froholdt had started all possible 60 games since signing as a free agent.
The Cardinals will also play without offensive lineman Jon Gaines II (ankle). That means Hayden Conner will start at center.
Defensive lineman Zach Carter, who has had three limited practices since coming off injured reserve with a knee injury, is also out.
The Cardinals list tight end Hunter Long (knee), defensive lineman Roy Lopez (toe/ankle), cornerback Max Melton (knee/hand), defensive lineman Darius Robinson (wrist), left tackle Jayden Williams (knee) and safety Dewey Wingard (groin) as questionable.
Lopez returned to practice on Friday, as did Robinson, who was a DNP on Thursday. Robinson had a wrap on his wrist.
Long would have to be activated to the 53-player roster by Saturday afternoon if he is to return this week.
Rams Clips
The Rams are listing Myles Garrett as questionable for Sunday’s rematch with the Cardinals, but the club is still expecting him to play.
Garrett will not practice on Friday, head coach Sean McVay said in his press conference, as Los Angeles is trying to keep him at his best.
“He’s feeling good,” McVay said, via Gary Klein of the L.A. Times. “It’s more of getting him feeling as good as possible. He’s a had a really good week, played a bunch of snaps, and expect him to be able to build on that, but we’re being smart with him.”
Garrett was plenty impactful last week in his return from a knee procedure, picking up 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble.
Additionally, cornerback Trent McDuffie (back) and safety Kam Curl (toe) will be listed as questionable for the game after being limited in practice on Friday.
Guard Steve Avila (hamstring) and tight end Terrance Ferguson (ankle/hamstring) have been ruled out.
Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has played seven games this season. He has no sacks.
“Sacks come in bunches,” Donald told reporters on Thursday. “It’s going to come. Just keep playing ball and keep finding ways to win. That’s the most important thing is winning. No pressure, I’m not worried about it. I’ve been playing football since I was five, six years old. They come in bunches. They’ll come eventually so just keep doing what I need to do to help this team. When they present themselves, hopefully hold the ball and take advantage of it.”
On Sunday, Donald finally played with Myles Garrett, the player whose arrival in June sparked Donald’s decision to return after two years of retirement. Garrett, in his first game since Week 1, had 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble.
Regardless, the Rams won, pushing themselves above .500 for the first time this year. On Sunday at Arizona, they have a chance to win their fourth in a row.
And Donald has another chance to get his first sack since he returned from retirement.
A day after Sean McVay said the Rams wouldn’t place Puka Nacua on injured reserve, the wide receiver went on IR.
McVay said “roster semantics” would keep Nacua on the 53-man roster, with every team getting only eight designated-to-return slots during the season. The Rams have used three of their designations and have Kobie Turner, Davante Adams, Terrance Ferguson and now Nacua on IR with hopes of returning.
But with Nacua set to miss “extended time,” as McVay said Wednesday, with MCL and PCL sprains in his knee and turf toe, the Rams opted to move him to the IR list.
Nacua will miss at least the next four games, with the Cowboys game on Dec. 20 the earliest he can return by rule.
The Rams signed wide receiver Brennan Presley to take Nacua’s roster spot and added wide receiver Tyler Scott to the practice squad.
Cardinals rookie quarterback Carson Beck will make his first start on Sunday against the Rams.
Speaking to reporters in a Wednesday press conference, Beck said he’s “super excited” to make his regular-season debut.
“Obviously, having gone from the emergency quarterback at the beginning of the season to last week being the backup to now being the starter, it’s been a crazy season,” Beck said, via transcript from the team. “It’s really been a welcome to the NFL season, just getting introduced to what the league is and what it can be, but I’m super excited for the opportunity and to have the chance to go play with these guys.”
Beck will be the third starting quarterback for the Cardinals this season after Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. Beck noted he’s picked up plenty from observing both veteran QBs to this point in the year.
“I think the biggest thing is just watching those two and how they carry themselves and how they handle themselves not only in the meeting room around the coaches, but during the walkthrough, during practice, and during the game,” Beck said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that you can learn from those guys, of everybody’s looking at you as a quarterback, and your attitude has to be right each and every day. The moxie [of] going out there, having confidence, and making everyone around you better.
“I think that’s something that I learned in how they carry themselves and when they went on the field — how I need to carry myself as well.”
To that end, Beck said “of course” he can maintain his sense of confidence entering Sunday.
“I think the coolest thing about confidence is that confidence is a choice,” Beck said. “With that also, I’ve said it before, it makes everyone else around you better as well. It exudes confidence into them when you’re showing that you’re confident. When you can choose that, again, you just have to go out there and execute. You have to go out there and do your thing and you have to go out there and be confident, have swag, and have moxie. Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of anything going on around you, regardless of maybe what happened the play before or maybe thinking about what’s going to happen the next play.
“You have to be in the present moment and that’s really all you can do and control.”
He didn’t sound completely serious, but Rams coach Sean McVay said on Wednesday that he talked to assistant wide receivers coach Robert Woods about whether he could suit up and play while receivers Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and Jordan Whittington are all out with injuries.
McVay was asked during his press conference whether he has talked to the 34-year-old Woods, who was a receiver for the Rams for five years, about potentially playing again.
“I have, yes,” McVay answered with a laugh.
McVay acknowledged that there are Collective Bargaining Agreement rules against a coach becoming a player, but he said Woods is still in great shape and it would be fun to give it a try.
“I’ve looked at him, and the way he looks out there, I’ve definitely been tempted,” McVay said. “I think that’d be a violation of the CBA. I don’t know what he’d have to do, but he looks damn good and still is smooth out there. Very tempting.”
Woods was cut by the Steelers before the 2025 season and hasn’t played since, and he announced his retirement and signed a one-day contract with the Rams in February of 2026. Realistically, even with his intimate knowledge of the Rams’ offense, he probably wouldn’t be able to contribute as much on the field as whatever receiver the Rams could add off waivers or another team’s practice squad.
If Woods and the Rams actually wanted him to become an active player, it wouldn’t be as simple as signing him to the active roster, as the league has rules preventing that. Players on the reserve-retired list have to pass through waivers before they can join a team. And the NFL generally doesn’t allow coaches to become players: In 2020, when the Broncos lost all their quarterbacks to covid, they asked the league office if they could activate one of their assistant coaches and were told no. In 2009, Eagles coach Andy Reid wanted to play coaching intern Matt Nagy at quarterback in a preseason game and was also told by the league that he couldn’t.
So the idea of Woods playing receiver for the Rams is probably not going to get any kind of serious consideration. Even if, with all the Rams’ injuries, it’s tempting.
Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie has missed three games this season and was listed as a non-participant in Wednesday’s practice with a back injury, but the outlook for his ability to play Sunday against the Cardinals is good.
Coach Sean McVay said on Wednesday that McDuffie wants to go and the only question for the Rams is whether he’ll be able to do everything he needs to do in a game, which can’t always be simulated on the practice field.
“He’s feeling good. We’re optimistic this week he will be able to go,” McVay said. “He’s so damn tough, but you want to make sure that you’re putting him in a position to have a successful outcome, and he is making really good progress. It’s really just being able to deal with the functional movements and some of the unpredictability.”
Injuries have taken a major toll on the Rams this season, and McDuffie is one of the big-name players in Los Angeles who hasn’t made the impact the team was hoping to see, in large part because he hasn’t been fully healthy. But when asked about McDuffie on Wednesday, McVay answered, “Hopefully this is the week.”
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (right elbow) had full participation on Wednesday.
Stafford went on the injury report with his injury a week ago, but he played all 75 offensive snaps in Sunday’s win over the Commanders.
Outside linebacker Myles Garrett (knee) was limited after playing 37 of 62 defensive snaps in his return Sunday, when he had three sacks. He had not played since Week 1 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee the following week.
Offensive lineman Steve Avila (hamstring), wide receiver Puka Nacua (knee/toe), cornerback Trent McDuffie (back), safety Kam Curl (toe) and tight end Terrance Ferguson (ankle/hamstring) did not practice.
Tight end Davis Allen (oblique), tight end Colby Parkinson (ribs) and long snapper Joe Cardona (ankle) were limited.
The Rams have experienced a bevy of injuries so far this season.
One consequence of that is the team’s slots for players to return from injured reserve are getting fewer and fewer.
That’s part of why, even though Puka Nacua is slated to miss several weeks with a knee injury, he’s not going to be placed on IR for now.
Via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press, head coach Sean McVay told reporters on Wednesday that “roster semantics” will keep Nacua on the 53.
He’s still going to be out for a significant period of time,” McVay said.
Nacua is currently dealing with sprains to two ligaments in his knee and turf toe.
But help is on the way for the Rams’ receiving corps, with Davante Adams potentially returning for the Week 13 matchup against the Chiefs.
Help is on the way for the Rams receiving corps, but the club likely still has to get through the rest of the month.
Head coach Sean McVay told reporters in his Wednesday news conference that Davante Adams could return after the team plays Green Bay in Week 12. That would put Adams on track for the Thursday night matchup against the Chiefs in Week 13.
“We’re optimistic Davante’s return is sooner than later, which is a big deal to us,” McVay said, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.
McVay added that he thinks Adams’ return after the Week 12 Wednesday contest against Green Bay “is a realistic timeline for us.”
The Rams will play the Cardinals on Sunday before an abbreviated Week 11 bye. They’ll host the Packers on Wednesday night in Week 12 for the league’s first “Thanksgiving Eve” game.
Adams has been sidelined since suffering his hamstring injury in the Oct. 18 loss to the Cardinals. He’s caught 30 passes for 480 yards with four touchdowns so far in 2026.
Adams’ absence is further magnified by Puka Nacua suffering a knee injury late in Sunday’s win over the Commanders. Nacua will be out for an extended period of time.
