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ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals will report to training camp this week, marking the unofficial beginning of the 2026 season.
It's been a wild offseason in the desert, as the Cardinals have welcomed fresh faces at head coach and quarterback among other changes made to the organization.
If Arizona will even have the slightest chance of surprising nearly everyone in the football world, they'll need all hands on deck. While the Cardinals are set to gain some healthy players back into the mix, they're also waiting on some of their biggest names to return to 100%.
Notable injuries you need to know ahead as camp gets underway in Glendale:
WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
You probably didn't expect to find Harrison on this list, though we didn't expect Harrison to essentially confirm he wasn't 100% recovered from a series of heel injuries suffered last season.
"I guess it's an ongoing process still," he said when asked when he got back to fully being healthy.
That was in June — and Harrison said he didn't expect it to linger.
"I go 100% [during practice]. I'm still out there doing everything I normally would do, but yeah, it's just like an ongoing process for sure," he said.
This is likely small, but still something to monitor anyways.
DL Walter Nolen III
Nolen suffered a series of injuries last season, first missing the beginning of the regular season with a calf injury before returning for six games and showing just how lethal he can be along Arizona's defensive line.
However, a knee injury ended his season — which was later revealed to be a meniscus tear. Nolen had surgery earlier in the offseason and had quite the exciting update from head coach Mike LaFleur — who said Nolen is trending towards being ready for training camp. The Cardinals report July 22.
Nolen was not spotted working on the field with his teammates during OTAs or minicamp.
A healthy Nolen immediately raises the ceiling of Arizona's defense. This would be his first training camp with the team after missing 2025's iteration.
TE Tip Reiman
Reiman isn't the flashiest or biggest name in the Cardinals' tight end room, but he's an essential piece to LaFleur's puzzle in terms of getting the rushing attack back on its tracks.
Reiman's blocking prowess should be often used in heavy TE packages, which Arizona did previously under Drew Petzing and will likely continue under LaFleur. Simply put, he's one of the Cardinals' best body-movers and in-line blockers.
Reiman is recovering from an ankle injury suffered in Week 5 of last season and was not practicing this offseason, though LaFleur said he expects the tight end to be "ready to roll" at the start of camp.
RB James Conner
After Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier were added to the room this offseason, many were quick to forget about veteran James Conner, who is still recovering from his foot injury that ended his season after Week 3.
Conner restructured his deal to remain with the team, and while his role on the field will surely be diminished, his place in Arizona's locker room as a leader hasn't changed.
Conner was not on the field this offseason but was spotted working off to the side during open portions of practice. It is not known when Conner is expected to return to action.
DL Kaleb Proctor
Proctor, Arizona's fourth-round pick, joined Darius Robinson and Nolen in the line of unfortunate rookies in the defensive line room to deal with an injury before their first season.
LaFleur told reporters Proctor suffered a torn meniscus, and the outlook doesn't look promising.
"Kaleb Proctor had a meniscus tear, so he'll miss quite a bit of time. If not — I don't want to say absolute — but if not the whole year," said LaFleur.
That's a massive blow for a Cardinals defensive line that needed Proctor's upside as an athletic playmaker — which would have paired nicely next to Nolen.
Now, Proctor for sure isn't going to be available at the beginning of the season — and he could miss most (if not all) of 2026.
CB Garrett Williams
Williams tore his Achilles late in December and was initially believed to be unavailable for the start of the regular season.
Yet LaFleur threw reporters a nice curveball this offseason, telling us Williams had made great progress with a chance to appear in Week 1.
"We got great news on Garrett, that will not happen for him to be back right in July, but when I first got here, maybe I'm misspeaking here, but I mean it was like an October, November thing [for his injury], and now it's talking about getting him in training camp, getting him going," LaFleur said.
Williams is one of Arizona's top cornerbacks and is capable of manning slot, boundary and even safety duties for the Cardinals. Gaining him back sooner as opposed to later would be massive.
Other Names to Watch
Two cornerbacks in Starling Thomas and Sean Murphy-Bunting suffered season-ending ACL injuries last season but were dressed for mandatory minicamp. Murphy-Bunting seemed to be fully healthy (if not, close to 100%) after making the switch to a slot role while Thomas was doing on and off-field work.
Starting inside linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. is returning from a serious ribs injury that put him out after Week 9, though he's been a seemingly full participant during OTA and minicamp sessions. Trey Benson (meniscus) was still sidelined with his injury through practices does not have an estimated date of return.
Today's best reads
- Cardinals Desperately Need These 4 Injured Players Healthy
- Cardinals Mailbag: Latest on Jacoby Brissett, Carson Beck, and Arizona's QB Future
- Cardinals Roster Tiers, Part 3: Players in Limbo
- Cardinals Roster Tiers, Part 5: Players Who Can Define Arizona's Season
- 3 Cardinals Who Just Might Lose Starting Job on Defense
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/cardinals/onsi as Arizona Cardinals Notable Injuries to Monitor Going Into Training Camp.
