The Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos played their starters last weekend in their respective preseason openers. That will not be the case when the two teams face one another Saturday night.
The Cardinals and Broncos held a joint practice on Thursday in Denver, and that will be the “preseason” work the starters get.
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Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters before the practice that he didn’t know the plan for the starters in the game on Saturday, but Broncos head coach Sean Payton let the apparent secret out.
Payton said after practice that neither the Cardinals nor Broncos would play their starters in the preseason game on Saturday, excluding a few who might.
So for the Cardinals, that means guys like Kyler Murray, who got his first preseason action since 2021 last weekend, are done for the preseason. Since Jonathan Gannon became head coach, the Cardinals have not played their starters following joint practices in the preseason.
If the starters don’t play on Saturday, they certainly will not in the preseason finale next weekend against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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The Cardinals and Broncos kick off at 9:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. Arizona time) from Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos to sit starters after joint practice