Football is back. After a week of training camp, the Cowboys and Cardinals will convene in Canton, Ohio, to take part in the annual Hall of Fame Game. But unlike the regular season — or even the early stages of preseason, Week 3 games — the Hall of Fame Game won’t feature many big names.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has already announced that none of his starters will see the field, and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett left these players back in Dallas:Maliek Collins, Ryan Switzer, Justin Durant, Jourdan Lewis and David Irving. As for starters, Garrett wouldn’t name names — “I will not make that declaration right now,” he said Tuesday about who might play — but Arians made it clear that we won’t see any of Arizona’s stars, including Carson Palmer, David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu or Chandler Jones. Palmer’s backup, Drew Stanton, isn’t expected to play either, which means that Blaine Gabbert is likely to get the start.
Both teams are heading to Ohio from out west, with Dallas holding early training camp in Oxnard, California. The reason they were chosen for the game is simple: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner will be inducted into the hall on Saturday night.
