Nichols hasn’t played since Week 6 of last season.
Some defensive line depth is incoming for the Arizona Cardinals, and it comes from a surprising place. The team announced that the three-week practice window for defensive lineman Bilal Nichols was opened, allowing him to practice for the first time on Monday.
Nichols is currently on the PUP (physically unable to perform) reserve for the neck injury he suffered in Week 6 of last season. At any point during the next three weeks or at the conclusion of the 21-day window, Nichols must be activated to the 53-man roster or he will be unable to play the rest of the season.
The Cardinals currently have five defensive linemen on the roster — Dalvin Tomlinson, Calais Campbell, Darius Robinson, Dante Stills and P.J. Mustipher. Since L.J. Collier was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury, Anthony Goodlow has been elevated twice from the practice squad to play.
Nichols signed a three-year contract in the 2024 offseason. He played in only six games last year before losing the rest of the season to his neck injury. He had 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit in six games.
The injury lingered into the offseason. He did not practice in the offseason and began training camp on the active PUP list.
In a “bonus” practice Monday following the weekend off after their Week 4 Thursday night game, he was on the field participating.
The Cardinals have two other defensive linemen who could come back sometime. Justin Jones is on injured reserve with a knee injury but is eligible to return but did not have his practice window opened. First-round pick Walter Nolen is also on PUP with Nichols but has a calf injury. Nolen also did not have his practice window opened.
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