TEMPE, Ariz. -- The lingering effects of playing 75 minutes of football Sunday night carried over to the Arizona Cardinals' first practice of the week.
The offense, which took 95 snaps in a 6-6 tie with the Seattle Seahawks, went through a walk through while the defense had a "tempo" for half and walk through for the other half of Wednesday's practice, coach Bruce Arians said.
"Basically, we played two games in one night the other night and (we're) not physically ready to do that," he said. "It was a very good start to the week mentally and we'll be ready physically by time we get there Sunday."
Quarterback Carson Palmer appreciated a Wednesday without pads. The Cardinals typically go through a physical practice with pads on Wednesdays.
"I think we're all physically tired but also mentally tired," Palmer said. "It was nice to not have a full padded practice today for the first time in a long time."
By giving his players a break from a Wednesday padded practice, Arians saw an opportunity to give injured players an extra day to recover. Six players did not practice and another six were limited, including Palmer.
Those who did not practice were tight end Darren Fells (ankle), wide receiver Michael Floyd (hamstring), linebacker Alex Okafor (calf), cornerback Patrick Peterson (ribs), defensive tackle Ed Stinson (toe) and tackle left Jared Veldheer (finger). Limited were cornerback Justin Bethel (foot), wide receiver John Brown (hamstring), cornerback Marcus Cooper (foot), left guard Mike Iupati (ankle), linebacker Gabe Martin (knee) Palmer (hamstring).
Arians said "most" of the injured players will practice Thursday.
Veldheer fractured a finger on his right hand and was wearing a cast, which Arians jokingly estimated to be an "eight foot cast." It went to about midway up his forearm.
"He'll have a paddle," Arians said. "Guys have worn them all the time. You can't grab. You don't have to worry about getting a holding penalty with that hand."
While it was needed and welcomed, having a lighter practice Wednesday could affect the Cardinals this weekend, Palmer said.
"You're playing a team coming off a bye," Palmer said. "They've had an extra week and you've played an extra quarter of football against a division opponent. So I just think with their rest that they have and with us playing Sunday night and playing late, we had a good outcome of guys just really walking through most of practice and not having pads on."
