Arizona Cardinals leaning on youth as injuries mount

Bruce Arians likes to say you typically can’t begin to count on an NFL rookie until Thanksgiving. That’s good for the Cardinals, because now that Thanksgiving is here, they’re going to have to lean on some of their first-year players.

With ankle injuries expected to sideline defensive tackles Cory Redding and Frostee Rucker for Sunday’s game at the 49ers, one of the rookies Arizona will turn to is Xavier Williams, who was inactive for every one of the team’s first nine games until finally making his debut during last Sunday night’s 34-31 victory over the Bengals.

The call to action has invigorated Williams, the 6-foot-2, 309-pounder from Northern Iowa.

“It’s really helped revitalize me because just two weeks ago, I was really starting to feel it and I hadn’t even played a snap,” Williams said. “But I felt the practices, and mentally and physically, I was just kind of worn down and drained. It was probably more mental than anything. I mean hard practices every day, it starts to wear on you.

“But getting the opportunity to play was like, ‘OK, here we go.’ It gave me a whole new focus and I’m going to attack it. It’s really helped me to catch my second wind.”

Rookie nose tackle Rodney Gunter is already in the starting lineup and second-year defensive lineman Josh Mauro, like Williams, will also have an increased role.

“Losing guys like C-Red and Frostee, that hurts,” Williams said. “There’s no replacing that. You just have to make sure there’s not too much of a drop off. Like B.A. said at the beginning of the season, ‘The MVP is not going to be a starter. The MVP is going to be second-, third-string guy who steps up.’ You lose guys like that, you understand what’s expected of you.”

Williams is just the latest rookie to get his chance.

“Yeah, a lot of guys have been getting it done for us,” he said. “Seeing Rodney get his sack on Sunday, seeing (linebacker) Markus (Golden) get his and (receiver) J.J. (Nelson) just having a ridiculous game. And (running back) David (Johnson) has been doing it all year. You’re watching and it’s like, ‘Man, I can’t wait to get out there. I want to be like those guys.’”

Injury report

In addition to Redding and Rucker, Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson is also dealing with an ankle injury. He didn’t practice on Wednesday, but will try to on Thursday and or Friday and if he does he likely will play against the 49ers, Arians said.

Also not practicing Wednesday were receiver John Brown (hamstring), linebacker LaMarr Woodley (chest) and defensive tackle Ed Stinson (groin). Brown said he fully expects to play.

The Cardinals might take punt returning duties away from Peterson and give it to Nelson, Arians said.

“Yeah, that’s something we’ll talk about,” he said. “He (Peterson) doesn’t want to, but we’ll talk about it. … J.J.’s more than ready to go.”

Then again, considering how well receiver Michael Floyd is coming along with his hamstring problem, the Cardinals may decide to deactivate Nelson.

“It’s possible, yes,” Arians said.

Even though Nelson is coming off a 142-yard receiving game with a touchdown against the Bengals?

“Yeah,” Arians said, “because the other guy (Floyd) had two touchdowns; he (Nelson) only had one.”

Floyd caught a pair of touchdowns two weeks ago when he hurt his hamstring at Seattle.

Limited Wednesday for the Cardinals were defensive tackle Calais Campbell (knee), guard Jonathan Cooper (knee), receiver Larry Fitzgerald (ankle), guard Mike Iupati (neck) and running back Chris Johnson (knee).

Three players did not practice for the 49ers: linebacker NaVorro Bowman (shoulder/finger), linebacker Ahmad Brooks (concussion) and running back Carlos Hyde (foot).

No trap game

Quarterback Carson Palmer said he and his teammates view the 49ers as very real threats and that despite their 3-7 record, they have the Cardinals’ full attention and focus this week.

“Those teams are dangerous and we understand that,” Palmer said. “We are very focused on this game. We (couldn't) care less what their record is, what the situation is. We haven’t won in their stadium since 2008 and that’s been talked about a lot. They’ve been one of the two best teams in this division for a long time. They’ve been in the Super Bowl recently. It’s an NFC West game. It’s the 49ers – the history, the tradition. This is a big game for us and we understand that.”

Palmer was asked if the national attention starting to come the Cardinals’ way could in any way interfere with their preparation or deter their motivation.

“It’s not an issue,” he said. “If it was, it would be handled. We have a lot of vets in this locker room. It’s very, very tunnel vision focus right now. Guys understand that it’s one day at a time. This is not a trap game. This is not a letdown game. We understand how important this game is to us and what it would mean to them to knock us off and like I said, we haven’t won in San Francisco since my kids were alive so it’s been a while.

“There’s a lot of guys in that locker room that have been here for some butt whippings against them. There’s a lot of extra things going on with this game for us. We’re very focused on this game.”

Palmer gaining votes

Palmer has received the seventh-most votes in the latest fan balloting for the 2016 Pro Bowl, which was released on Wednesday.

Palmer has 220,026 votes, which ranks fifth among quarterbacks. The Patriots’ Tom Brady leads all vote-getters with 342,471 votes, followed by Carolina’s Cam Newton (298,754), Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton (277,104) and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers (254,253).

Palmer has been named to the Pro Bowl twice, in 2005 and 2006.

Campbell nominated

The NFL announced its 32 player nominees for the second annual Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award and Campbell has been named as the Cardinals’ representative for the trophy.

Fitzgerald was the recipient of the inaugural award last season.

The Rooney Award is named in honor of the late founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pro Football Hall of Fame Art Rooney Sr., and is given to a player who exemplifies outstanding sportsmanship on the field, respect for the game and opponents and integrity in competition.

The winner will be selected by a vote of NFL players and will be announced during the NFL Honors Show Feb. 6 on CBS the night before Super Bowl 50.