The Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday designated linebacker Dennis Gardeck to return from the injured reserve list, placed safety Charles Washington on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury and announced the promotion of cornerback Antonio Hamilton to the active roster.
Gardeck, who was out with a hand injury, can now practice and is able to return at any point in the next three weeks or at the end of the 21-day clock.
Gardeck, a special teams captain, posted seven sacks last season and was coming off ACL surgery before he suffered the hand injury prior to Week 1 of this year.
Additionally on Wednesday, Arizona announced it added offensive linemen Shaq Calhoun, Michal Menet and Danny Isidora, plus cornerback Quinton Dunbar, to the practice squad. Calhoun and Menet have spent time with the Cardinals previously.
The Cardinals released cornerback Mazzi Wilkins from the practice squad to make room for the additions.
Washington had one tackle on the season and has been a core member of the Cardinals’ special teams unit over the past two years. He’s played in half of the team’s special teams possessions this season.
Hamilton has spent the season on the practice squad but was elevated to the active roster for all three games. One of those assignments was as a COVID-19 replacement for receiver Antoine Wesley, while two were standard gameday call-ups.
The latter maxed out the ability for Hamilton to move between the practice squad and active roster without Arizona releasing a player from the 53-man roster.
His promotion, then, makes sense as he is the No. 4 cornerback on the depth chart.
Hamilton has played on the special teams unit but also extensively on defense in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings. He appeared for 33 defensive snaps as a nickel alongside Byron Murphy and Robert Alford. Rookie Marco Wilson was injured and did not finish that game.
With Hamilton on the NFL roster, Arizona added to its cornerback depth Tuesday by agreeing to sign Dunbar to the practice squad. He has 64 games of NFL experience with 10 interceptions and 180 tackles in his six-year career.