Read More: Kevin Kolb (QB – ARI), John Skelton (QB – ARI), Arizona Cardinals

Kevin Kolb is back. After missing four weeks due to a bad case of turf toe complicated by a bone bruise in his foot, the Arizona Cardinals will have their prize quarterback taking snaps Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. At least that’s plan barring any set backs and none are expected (which is why they are called “set backs”).

“Yeah, I feel really good,” Kolb said Wednesday after taking all the reps in practice for the first time since the injury. “Obviously, we’ll see tomorrow how it feels after a full day, but I have full intention of playing.”

Kolb was nearing ready to go last week, but the team had enough doubt about Kolb’s foot they decided early on that John Skelton would get the start so he could get the full benefit of practicing with the first team.  

As to be expected, Coach Ken Whisenhunt was his normally evasive self on such matters.

“The way it’s gone this season for us with different guys, I’m not going to say anything like that today. We’ll see how it is tomorrow,” Whiz said, adding with about as much of a definitive answer as you will get from him, “But I said Sunday after the (Rams) game that we’re a lot more optimistic that he’ll have a chance to play this week.”

Kolb is anxious to get back out on the field and understands how important it is for him and the entire offense to play well in these final five games of the season. 

“We still don’t feel like offensively we’ve played an entire game yet as a complete unit. That’s a big goal of ours,” Kolb said, adding the offense needs to figure out ”who we are”.

He did seem to indicate that with the way the defense and special teams are playing, the role of the Cardinals’ quarterback is to not screw up.

“I think if you look back on a lot of games, if us as quarterbacks just did our part and just took care of the ball and played a good, solid game then we would have won quite a few of them. That’s my mentality and that needs to be our mentality every time we hit the field. Just do your job (then) we’ll take care of business.”

It will be interesting to see if that becomes the new norm in Arizona. That model has certainly worked in San Francisco and Baltimore, but under Ken Whisenhunt the Cardinals have followed the “Kurt Warner Plan” of letting the QB make big plays to the star receiver. 

That plan didn’t work last year with the Derek Anderson Max Hall John Skelton monster and as the team has found out this year, it’s not likely to work with Kevin Kolb any time soon. Fortunately, the defense is getting better and Beanie Wells has stepped up his game. That allows Whisenhunt to be more conservative on offense and let’s the QB “manage the game”, to use that infamous NFL phrase.

We’ll see how that plays out, if at all. When you have No. 11 on your team, there’s a lot of pressure to throw him the ball and a lot of comes from Larry Fitzgerald himself lobbying for targets. He does make a pretty compelling case. 

Other Injury News

In other Cardinals injury news, TE Rob Housler (groin) was back practicing in full while TE Todd Heap remains limited. As expected Joey Porter (knee) and Kerry Rhodes (foot) are still out with no time table for return.

Beanie Well was limited in practice as has been the norm for him on Wednesday as he gives his knee more time to recover from the last game and prepare for the next one.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Arizona Cardinals have shored up their depleted quarterback ranks by signing Brodie Croyle, in the process parting ways with Max Hall.

Hall, who partially dislocated his left shoulder in practice on Monday, was waived-injured, a move that could lead to an injury settlement with the second-year quarterback. Coach Ken Whisenhunt said that would allow Hall to be re-signed at some point in the season if the team needs him.

“It’s the only way we could potentially get him back,” Whisenhunt said. “If we went straight injured reserve, then he wouldn’t be able to come back and play for us this year. But the way I understand it, the way the rules work now, is that if we work out a settlement with him in whatever time frame, then we would have an opportunity later in the season to bring him back if we needed that.”

The Cardinals also signed veteran punter Dave Zastudil, an indication the team is not satisfied with the performance of Australian Ben Graham, who has held that job for the past two seasons. Graham had a big season in 2009, averaging 47 yards per punt with 42 inside the 20-yard line and 17 inside the 10, and only three touchbacks. Last year, as the team went from 10-6 to 5-11, Graham’s average dropped to 43.4 yards with 29 inside the 20 and 12 inside the 10. He had nine touchbacks.

“We weren’t as good in a lot of areas last year, and that was definitely one of the areas that we weren’t up to our standards,” Whisenhunt said. “So that’s the reason we have extra guys in camp. We’re trying to look at that position and get the best player we can.”

Zastudil, who started his pro career with Baltimore, is a 10-year NFL veteran, the last five with Cleveland. He spent last season on injured reserve with a knee injury. Zastudil has a career average of 42.7 yards in 113 games with 179 punts inside the opponent’s 20.

Croyle participated in Wednesday morning’s walkthrough and is expected to play some in Saturday night’s pre-season home opener against San Diego, because the only other healthy quarterbacks on the roster are starter Kevin Kolb and Rich Bartel. John Skelton has not practised all week after spraining an ankle in last weekend’s loss at Green Bay.

Croyle was the obvious choice to fill in because he spent the last five seasons in Kansas City, primarily as a backup, the last two under Todd Haley, who was Whisenhunt’s offensive co-ordinator before going to the Chiefs.

“He was with Todd in that system so there’s obviously some similarities there,” Whisenhunt said. “As far as being able to get him in here in two days and have him potentially ready to play, we felt like that was the best opportunity for us to do that. You figure we’ve got two games in five days, so it would be very hard to get just any quarterback in here up to speed with the ability play, which could happen in those two games.”

Hall, a high school star in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, made the Cardinals’ roster as an undrafted rookie out of BYU a year ago, impressing the coaches with his quick grasp of the offence. When starter Derek Anderson faltered, Hall became the starter in week five, helping Arizona upset New Orleans. But he had a bad game the following week at Seattle, then was benched after two passes were returned for touchdowns against Tampa Bay.

Anderson returned, then Hall came back briefly before going down with the same injury he sustained this week. The rookie Skelton started the final four games of the year.

The Cardinals practised Wednesday afternoon, and have a morning workout Thursday before heading down to the triple-digit heat of the desert.

Kolb said he wants to play into the third quarter against the Chargers, something Whisenhunt said probably would happen.

The Cardinals’ new quarterback has been to University of Phoenix Stadium once, when he was a backup for the Eagles in their NFC championship game loss to Arizona in the 2008 season.

“I don’t even know how to get out there,” he said. “I have to look it up on my phone and get directions.”

Kolb wants to use these next two home pre-season games to get his pre-game routine down.

“Game day you don’t want any surprises,” he said. “You want to just get there, be in the right mindset, and be ready to roll.”

As for excitement in the waning days of camp, there wasn’t much, other than Kolb, riding his Segway, narrowly avoiding what could have been a nasty collision with one of the multitude of skunks that roam the area.

“It’s the only way we could potentially get him back,” Whisenhunt said. “If we went straight injured reserve, then he wouldn’t be able to come back and play for us this year. But the way I understand it, the way the rules work now, is that if we work out a settlement with him in whatever time frame, then we would have an opportunity later in the season to bring him back if we needed that.”

The Cardinals also signed veteran punter Dave Zastudil, an indication the team is not satisfied with the performance of Australian Ben Graham, who has held that job for the past two seasons. Graham had a big season in 2009, averaging 47 yards per punt with 42 inside the 20-yard line and 17 inside the 10, and only three touchbacks. Last year, as the team went from 10-6 to 5-11, Graham’s average dropped to 43.4 yards with 29 inside the 20 and 12 inside the 10. He had nine touchbacks.

“We weren’t as good in a lot of areas last year, and that was definitely one of the areas that we weren’t up to our standards,” Whisenhunt said. “So that’s the reason we have extra guys in camp. We’re trying to look at that position and get the best player we can.”

Zastudil, who started his pro career with Baltimore, is a 10-year NFL veteran, the last five with Cleveland. He spent last season on injured reserve with a knee injury. Zastudil has a career average of 42.7 yards in 113 games with 179 punts inside the opponent’s 20.

Croyle participated in Wednesday morning’s walkthrough and is expected to play some in Saturday night’s preseason home opener against San Diego, because the only other healthy quarterbacks on the roster are starter Kevin Kolb and Rich Bartel. John Skelton has not practiced all week after spraining an ankle in last weekend’s loss at Green Bay.

Croyle was the obvious choice to fill in because he spent the last five seasons in Kansas City, primarily as a backup, the last two under Todd Haley, who was Whisenhunt’s offensive coordinator before going to the Chiefs.

“He was with Todd in that system so there’s obviously some similarities there,” Whisenhunt said. “As far as being able to get him in here in two days and have him potentially ready to play, we felt like that was the best opportunity for us to do that. You figure we’ve got two games in five days, so it would be very hard to get just any quarterback in here up to speed with the ability play, which could happen in those two games.”

Hall, a high school star in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, made the Cardinals’ roster as an undrafted rookie out of BYU a year ago, impressing the coaches with his quick grasp of the offense. When starter Derek Anderson faltered, Hall became the starter in week five, helping Arizona upset New Orleans. But he had a bad game the following week at Seattle, then was benched after two passes were returned for touchdowns against Tampa Bay.

Anderson returned, then Hall came back briefly before going down with the same injury he sustained this week. The rookie Skelton started the final four games of the year.

The Cardinals practiced Wednesday afternoon, and have a morning workout Thursday before heading down to the triple-digit heat of the desert.

Kolb said he wants to play into the third quarter against the Chargers, something Whisenhunt said probably would happen.

The Cardinals’ new quarterback has been to University of Phoenix Stadium once, when he was a backup for the Eagles in their NFC championship game loss to Arizona in the 2008 season.

“I don’t even know how to get out there,” he said. “I have to look it up on my phone and get directions.”

Kolb wants to use these next two home preseason games to get his pregame routine down.

“Game day you don’t want any surprises,” he said. “You want to just get there, be in the right mindset, and be ready to roll.”

As for excitement in the waning days of camp, there wasn’t much, other than Kolb, riding his Segway, narrowly avoiding what could have been a nasty collision with one of the multitude of skunks that roam the area.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Arizona Cardinals running back Beanie Wells became more valuable from a fantasy standpoint once a knee injury knocked out Ryan Williams for the season. Wells figures to get most rushing attempts for Arizona if healthy.

Larry Fitzgerald was only the sixth-ranked receiver from a fantasy standpoint, trailing Andre Johnson, Roddy White, Greg Jennings, Hakeem Nicks and Calvin Johnson. I could see Fitzgerald’s touchdown total spiking now that Derek Anderson, John Skelton and Max Hall are not his primary quarterbacks.

Kevin Kolb ranked only 18th among fantasy quarterbacks, just ahead of the New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez. He’s already shown an eagerness to force the ball to Fitzgerald, with encouraging results.

The No. 18 ranking seems a bit low for a quarterback with Fitzgerald at the ready, but in looking at the names above Kolb on the list, the ranking seems about right.

Aaron Rodgers, Michael Vick, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Matt Schaub, Ben Roethlisberger, Josh Freeman, Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Sam Bradford, Jay Cutler, Matt Cassell and Matthew Stafford rank ahead of Kolb.

Unranked Cardinals sleeper: Rookie tight end Rob Housler. The third-round draft choice needs seasoning as a blocker. He has flashed ability as a receiver through two preseason games. Crowding at the position will hurt him, however. Todd Heap and Jeff King give the Cardinals veteran options. They have a combined 16 touchdown receptions over the last two seasons.

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Backup quarterback John Skelton is wearing a walking boot for what Whisenhunt says appears to be a high ankle sprain.

That left only Kevin Kolb and Richard Bartel for Tuesday’s practice. The team is expected to add a third quarterback for Saturday’s preseason game against San Diego.

Hall, a star high school quarterback in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, made the Cardinals roster last year as an undrafted rookie out of BYU. He was quick to absorb the offense and when Derek Anderson faltered, Hall became the starter. Arizona upset New Orleans in his first start, but he was 12 for 32 passing with three interceptions in his next two starts. After Hall had two picks returned for touchdowns against Tampa Bay, Anderson returned but only briefly.

Skelton started the last four games of the season after Hall went down with a shoulder injury against St. Louis.

Plagued by a lack of arm strength to make the long passes, Hall was running at No. 4 on the depth chart when he scrambled on a play and extended his left arm to the ground to catch his balance. He left the field holding his arm and in obvious pain.

“It’s unfortunate but that’s part of the game,” Whisenhunt said, “and hopefully it’s not something that will force him to miss too much time.”

Bartel was under contract to Cleveland and Washington but didn’t appear in an NFL game until after he joined the Cardinals in the middle of last season. He directed a late drive in Arizona’s 28-20 loss at Green Bay on Friday night but threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted in the end zone.

“He’s improved,” Whisenhunt said. “Without having an off-season, he did some work on his own with the guys and he’s done a very good job. Obviously I didn’t like the interception at the end of the two-minute drive but he was very efficient up until that point.”

Skelton was injured in the Green Bay game.

“It’s looking a little bit more like a high ankle sprain,” Whisenhunt said, “but I don’t know how long that’s going to be. He’s making good progress. We’ll see how it progresses, but there’s not a lot of swelling. He’s got some soreness in there and we just want to make sure because it’s so critical to the quarterback, especially on his plant foot, driving and throwing off that foot. So we’re going to obviously be a little bit more cautious with that.”

The Cardinals worked out Tuesday afternoon, leaving them only three more practices before leaving their training camp at Northern Arizona University — elevation 7,000 feet — and heading down to the desert. They have a walk-through Wednesday morning, followed by a full practice that afternoon. The final workout will be Thursday morning.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.