Cardinals Play Just One Starter vs Saints

The Arizona Cardinals featured just one of 22 starters against the New Orleans Saints.

Aug 10, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) warms up before facing the New Orleans Saints at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

GLENDALE, AZ -- The Arizona Cardinals featured just one of their projected starters against the New Orleans Saints.

Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. - the team's No. 4 overall pick - was the lone starter Arizona trotted out in their preseason opener (despite every starter dressing with the team and going through warm-ups).

Harrison played just one drive and got no targets.

New Orleans - on the other hand - saw their starters play multiple drives before pulling them.

These were Arizona's starters on offense:

Here are the Arizona Cardinals starters on offense:

QB Ridder
HB Benson
WR Harrison JR
WR Pascal
WR C. Moore
TE Higgins
LT Wilkinson
LG Adams
C Colon
RG Daley
RT Beachum

— Bo Brack (@BoBrack) August 11, 2024

Here's what Arizona's starting defense looked like:

Defense:

- Darius Robinson
- Roy Lopez
- L.J. Collier
- Jesse Luketa
- Owen Pappoe
- Krys Barnes
- Victor Dimukeje
- Starling Thomas V
- Dadrion Taylor-Demerson
- Joey Blount
- Divaad Wilson

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) August 11, 2024

When previously discussing who would and wouldn't play, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters:

"I'm not going to get into all of it, but it's really is case-by-case, whether it be how old they are, health, if I want to see him play, if they're competing for roles, they're all competing for roles right now," he said.

"How it relates to fourth down - there's a lot that goes into it."

The Cardinals will have two more preseason games after tonight - both on the road against Denver and Indianapolis.

Arizona will hold joint practices with the Colts next week.

All focus for Gannon and his starters is predicated on their Week 1 road trip in Buffalo:

"How the schedule is planned out over the next - that's why you can't look at it day by day - for us how we kind of do it is you work from Buffalo back," said Gannon.

"So there's always a little bit concern, you know what I mean? We got to be ready to go, and we got to have all our energy systems, right? Buffalo, you know? Not going to get into all the science of that, but we can't be winded out there, we got to be in shape. We got to be able to play however many plays what we think is during a game. But I think that we have a good plan to do that."