Budda Baker Not Practicing at Cardinals Camp

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker was still on the field but not dressed on Thursday.

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) plays catch with fans during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on July 28, 2024. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

ARIZONA -- Arizona Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon met with reporters ahead of Thursday's training camp session and said a couple guys suffered some minor injuries through the first couple days of pads.

"Coming off a day off. Good three days here coming up. A couple guys got some nicks and bumps and bruises. Nobody's serious. So we'll get those guys back out there when they're ready to go," said Gannon.

The Cardinals didn't trot out starting center Hjalte Froholdt - who appeared to suffer an injury on Tuesday's practice (Arizona got good news on him per Gannon).

That was expected, but Budda Baker wasn't a participant today either - though he was still with the team on the field:

A couple* the lights were too bright for me down there today

— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) August 1, 2024

As stated in the tweet, today was a "low" day for the Cardinals ahead of their Red-White scrimmage on Saturday - so not a lot of high-flying action will be taking place.

Baker was still moving around fine, so if he is indeed hurt, it's nothing major or concerning.

Baker is heading into the final year of his deal with the Cardinals, and general manager Monti Ossenfort directly addressed his contract situation on a recent appearance with Arizona Sports' Wolf and Luke:

“We’ve had a lot of discussions with Budda here over the last couple years,” Ossenfort said.

“And so I think we’re happy that we have Budda and we’ll see kinda what that means moving forward. But we love all the guys we got on the team right now — we’ll see how that shakes out with the 53 — but Budda certainly represents everything we want this team to be about. We’re excited to see how this season goes right now."

Joey Blount took first-team reps with the Cardinals' defense in Baker's absence.

The Cardinals wrap up their training camp next Wednesday (Aug. 7) before taking on their first preseason game against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, Aug. 10.

We'll see if Baker is on the field for Friday's practice - though Gannon's words make it seem Baker (or anybody else) isn't close to being seriously hurt.