Doug Baldwin says he's ready to return to the lineup this week against the Arizona Cardinals.Baldwin has missed the past two games for Seattle after injuring the MCL in his right knee in the team's season opener against the Denver Broncos.Baldwin returned to the practice field on Wednesday for the first time since defensive tackle Domata Peko rolled up on the back of his leg in Denver."I know Pete has a press conference coming up eventually (on Friday) so you'll have to ask him. ... I'm ready to go www.cardinalscheapstore.com ," Baldwin said on Thursday."That's going to be their call. There's a lot of things that go into it, obviously, the precautionary reasons of making sure that I'm healthy fully so that I can go for the rest of the season and not just this game."Said Carroll on Wednesday: "He looks really good and light on his feet. He looks very confident that he can have a chance to play this week, so we'll see how that goes. He's confident, that's not a surprise. Let's see if he can pull it off."Baldwin hadn't missed a game for Seattle since the 2012 season. He had appeared in 89 straight regular-season games and 12 postseason games since the previous time he was sidelined for an injury. The two games he missed that season were the only absences he's had in his first seven years in the NFL."Still a little frustrating because I feel like I'm still being held back a little bit," Baldwin said. "I understand why and the precautionary reasons, but I'm chomping at the bit. I'm ready to go. This is what I do, so I'm excited about getting back out there."Baldwin hasn't enjoyed being forced to watch practice and games from the sideline. He got just two days of practice in with the team at the start of training camp before being shut down for nearly a month because of an issue with his left knee. He didn't appear in any of the team's four preseason games before ramping back up for the start of the season.He played just 11 snaps in Denver before injuring his right knee, most coming before the injury while a couple came as he tried to see if he could play through it."I wanted to do everything I could to go back in and I did that and realized it wasn't getting better," Baldwin said.Baldwin has been limited in both practices he's participated in on Wednesday and Thursday.Carroll said they will need to see how Baldwin can handle a workload with essentially two troublesome knees."We need to find out," he said. "We need to find out how it goes. Doug's (Baldwin) a guy that we communicate with very directly over a long period of time. We'll work our way through it and we'll just assess how he's doing and how it's going."Notes: Safety Earl Thomas did practice on Thursday — as he did a week ago — despite missing practice for non-injury reasons on Wednesday. Thomas has said he doesn't intend to practice if he feels even the slightest bit diminished as he tries to look out for his health absent a contract extension from the team. ... LG Ethan Pocic (ankle), RB C.J. Prosise (abdomen), DE Dion Jordan (hip), DE Rasheem Green (ankle) and LB K.J. Wright (knee) did not practice for a second straight day. RB Chris Carson (hip) Arizona Cardinals T-Shirt , RG D.J. Fluker (knee), DT Shamar Stephen (foot) and S Delano Hill (hamstring) were limited.8 Observations from the Arizona Cardinals loss to the Seattle Seahawks Coming out of another loss, the Arizona Cardinals are the only team in the NFL at 0-4. Some observations through four weeks.1. McCoy seems to playing more run plays on first down... Mr. McCoy, that’s predictable. Hearing the outcries from the people on here, it’s no surprise they want Mike McCoy gone from the state of Arizona. Go coach college, Mr. McCoy. Please?2. Let Rosen do whatever the hell he wants in the playbook. I felt confident with his awareness in the pocket, and I now understand the future seems bright for Josh Rosen.3. Phil Dawson is not a clutch kicker, how has no one seen this in the front office. In a lot of ways, I wish we could have struggled with Matt McCrane. McCrane won the game for the Raiders against the Browns, while Dawson collects from the AARP. 4. If you keep both Dawson and McCoy after this week, which is putrid, then what is the point of suiting up? We already have seen enough play calls to know the predictability of Mike McCoy. Could this type of commitment to a coordinator and/or player be the downfall of Steve Keim? Can we hope so? I do. Keim needs to right this ship himself, or we can go 1-15 for the year. Who could replace? I feel confident that Byron Leftwich has seen enough game time situations, and I feel confident in the way he’s coached Josh Rosen Arizona Cardinals Hats , and in some way, Charles Kanoff. 5. This defense needs a turnover, and in short order. I saw quite a tenacity from Benwikere. I thought Chandler Jones took on double teams well, and Pat P played very well in both the pass and run game. But when a team is lacking in the turnover department, that leaves little room for error. There needs to be pressure off the edges, but let’s fix one thing at a time.6. What did Deone Bucannon and Haason Reddick do to be in the dog house? It seemed to me that the Cardinals tried very hard to run 2-linebacker sets throughout the game. That works, when you have a linebacker like Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. When you have Josh Bynes, a very unathletic linebacker who has played well this year, and Deone Bucannon, an undersized linebacker who would be better in slot coverage, you develop a reputation as a non-physical team. 7. If the Cardinals continue to stink like they do with Mike McCoy and Phil Dawson, they most likely will have a chance to be in the top-3 of this next years draft class. My guess for those three selections? (from first to third) Ed Oliver (violent and crafty, think bigger Aaron Donald), Nick Bosa (supposedly better then Joey Bosa Arizona Cardinals Hoodie , but come on, that’s Joey freaken Bosa, he demands double teams), and N’Keal Harry (local kid with great hands, exceptional route-running, and smart IQ.). Which would Cardinals fans prefer? In my opinion, Oliver and Bosa are generational players, and Harry reminds me of Megatron. 8. I don’t think people care how I would run this team, but I’m gonna spoon feed ya anyways. I love the front four of Chandler Jones, Corey Peters, Robert Nkemdiche, and Markus Golden (the more he plays). Keeping those guys, plus the rotation of Benson Mayowa, Olsen Pierre Customized Arizona Cardinals Jerseys , Rodney Gunter, and Zach Moore looks solid. It now starts at the second level. I love Budda Baker in the slot, he belongs there, but on obvious run-downs, I think he needs to be substituted for Deone Bucannon, who will strictly run nickel. Bucannon is too slow to be a safety, and is too small to be a linebacker. This movement now allows him to play the run without getting tangled up with guards, and Budda would be allowed to relax in coverage, or spy. Putting Haason Reddick as a pass-rusher would give you more flexibility to have Bucannon and Baker on the field at the same time. This is just one man’s opinion of how to use the weapons around you. Anyways, look out for one of my draft columns. Thanks for reading.
