TEMPE, Ariz. -- When Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said during his Monday news conference that rookie defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche couldn’t afford to have a second straight bad week of practice because there were too many defensive linemen competing for playing time, it wasn’t just a fleeting thought.

Arians announced it to a national audience on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday night.

“It’s going to be hard to crack that lineup and get a hat on Sunday unless you just have one hell of a week of practice,” Arians said Tuesday night.

Nkemdiche missed Sunday’s victory over Tampa Bay with a right ankle injury he suffered during Friday’s practice. It’s still too early for his physical status for this Sunday’s game in Buffalo to be determined, but his performance might end up costing him a chance to get on the field, not the injury.

“It all depends on the practices,” Arians said. “The guys who played played really well.”

Nkemdiche was among the laundry list of players Arians criticized after losing to the Patriots.

Then on Monday, Arians said last week “wasn’t the best week of practice” for Nkemdiche, whose play Arians described as “poor” and who Arians said “was not a factor” in Week 1.

With a week to reflect on Nkemdiche’s NFL debut, Arians didn’t go any softer on the radio.

“He did not play very well in the one job he had against New England,” Arians said. “And the guy who played this week had 24 plusses and one minus.”