The Arizona Cardinals announced Wednesday that wide receiver Hollywood Brown has been designated to return from injured reserve, opening his 21-day window to be activated to the 53-man roster.
After four weeks on the sidelines Brown is making his way back onto the field, starting with his return to practice on Wednesday. And his official return to the roster could happen sooner rather than later, as coach Kliff Kingsbury said Wednesday that there's a chance that Brown could be ready to play by Arizona's Monday night Mexico City showdown versus the 49ers in five days.
Brown was hurt during the Cardinals' Week 6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, leaping to try and haul in a late-game throw but landing awkwardly as the pass was intercepted. Brown was subsequently diagnosed with a non-surgical foot fracture and placed on injured reserve. The initial expectation for recovery time from this type of injury was six weeks, but Brown will be returning to practice after four weeks, the minimum required time for an IR stint.
Before the injury, the offseason acquisition had been a bright spot on a struggling Cardinals offense, collecting 43 catches, 485 yards and three touchdowns in his first season in Arizona, and was on pace to break his own single-season record of 1,008 receiving yards from 2021.
Luckily, just as it was announced that Brown would miss time, Arizona got back one of its other star wide receivers when DeAndre Hopkins made his return from a six-game suspension. Hopkins had been one of the Cardinals' leading receivers in recent seasons, and in just four games he's continued to be impressive, catching 36 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns.
But even with Hopkins' return, the Cardinals remain on the lower end of the league's offensive rankings, sitting at 22nd overall, 23rd in passing and 30th in scoring. The hope is that with Brown and Hopkins finally available at the same time, having both of the team's star wide receivers on the field will help Arizona turn things around and find some consistent offensive production.
While we'll have to wait and see when exactly Brown will be ready to take the field again, the Cardinals hope his presence will mark a significant uptick in the offense that will translate to an improvement on their 4-6 record and third-place standing in the NFC West.
Arizona will take on San Francisco on Monday night in Mexico City.
