ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals finally got a bit of good news on their Thursday injury report against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Will Johnson and Will Hernandez both returned to practice today, pushing the Cardinals in the right direction to get a massive boost on both sides of the ball ahead of Friday, when official game statuses are due.
All other players in Arizona carried the same injury/practice designation as yesterday.
In Jacksonville, Arik Armstead and Andrew Wingard both were upgraded to full participants after being limited yesterday. All other Jaguars remain the same after two days' worth of practice.
Did not practice: Kelvin Beachum (groin), Baron Browning (concussion), Emari Demercado (ankle), Marvin Harrison (illness), Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (ankle) and Jonah Williams (shoulder)
Practiced in limited capacity: Trey Benson (knee), Hayden Conner (knee), Bam Knight (ankle), Darius Robinson (groin), Garrett Williams (ankle), Will Hernandez (knee) and Will Johnson (back/hip),
With Beachum and Williams missing two days of practice, the Cardinals may be forced to play late-round draft pick Josh Fryar at right tackle - who stepped in last week for Arizona.
"It was good to see him in there. Kind of his first time he really played tackle for a little bit, but he's been working on his game," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Fryar.
"He’s been improving every week, and he was ready to go. I was proud of him. He was ready to step up in there and go. His role changed, obviously midway through the game and he was wearing the muscle hat for us going into that game, so he got to play a little bit.
"He goes in at tackle and we're dropping back every snap, and they know we're dropping back every snap. He did a good job.”
Did not practice: Yasir Abdullah (finger) and Travon Walker (knee)
Practiced in limited capacity: Travis Etienne (shoulder), Dennis Gardeck (chest), Anton Harrison (knee/ankle), Jarrian Jones (quad), Jourdan Lewis (neck), Hunter Long (hip/knee), Patrick Mekari (knee), Wyatt Milum (knee), Greg Newsome (ankle), Brenton Strange (hip), Brian Thomas Jr. (ankle) and Bhayshul Tuten (ankle)
Practiced in full capacity: Arik Armstead (illness) and Andrew Wingard (back)
Gannon highlighted Etienne as a major problem when game-planning for Jacksonville's offense, which ranks near the top of the league in rushing yards.
“He’s a good player. He's playing well. I've played him a couple times. In my mind, he looks really good. He looks decisive, violent and fast (so) that's all 11 in the run game," Gannon said.
"We have to make sure that we're knocking the line of scrimmage back, setting edges, tackling, beating blocks and getting off blocks. Then in the passing game you have to win your leverage because he can hurt you in the passing game too.
"I think (Jaguars Head Coach) Liam's (Coen) done a really good job of putting him in good spots with what he does well and it's showing up.”