Arizona Cardinals activate Rodney Hudson, place J.J. Watt on injured reserve

The Arizona Cardinals made a litany of moves on Saturday.

From the team:

The Arizona Cardinals Football Club today announced the following roster moves:

– Activated offensive lineman Rodney Hudson (ribs/shoulder) from the injured reserve/designated for return list

– Signed tight end David Wells to the active roster from the practice squad

– Placed defensive lineman Rashard Lawrence (calf) and defensive lineman J.J. Watt (shoulder) on injured reserve

– Elevated wide receiver Greg Dortch and cornerback Kevin Peterson to the active roster from the practice squad as standard elevations

– Elevated defensive lineman Josh Mauro (MORE-oh) and linebacker Joe Walker to the active roster from the practice squad as COVID-19 replacements

Hudson (6-2, 315) was placed on injured reserve (ribs/shoulder) on October 16 after starting the first five games of the season.

Wells (6-6, 260) signed with the Cardinals practice squad on October 20 after previously spending time on the practice squads of the Colts and Falcons earlier this season. The 26-year old Wells spent the preseason with Atlanta and New England after originally entering the league in 2018 with Dallas as an undrafted rookie free agent from San Diego State.

Dortch (5-7, 175) has spent the entire season on Arizona’s practice squad after he was released following the preseason. The 23-year old Dortch originally signed with Arizona on August 3 after previously playing in two games with Carolina in 2019 and spending time on the practice squads of the Jets, Panthers, Rams and Falcons in his career. He entered the league with the Jets as an undrafted rookie free agent from Wake Forest in 2019.

Mauro (6-6, 290) played the past two games after being elevated from the practice squad. He was signed with Arizona’s practice squad on October 19 after spending training camp with the team. Mauro played three games (two starts) last season with Arizona after previously playing 47 games (26 starts) with the Cardinals between 2014-17. He originally entered the league with Pittsburgh as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2014 from Stanford.

Peterson (5-11, 185) signed with the Cardinals practice squad on October 13 after playing in 26 games (four starts) the past two seasons (2019-20) with Arizona. The 27-year old Peterson entered the league with Chicago as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2016 from Oklahoma State and played in six games (one start) with the Rams in 2017. He spent the preseason with Tennessee.

Walker (6-2, 236) signed with the Cardinals practice squad on October 13 and has played the past three games. He played 30 games (11 starts) with Arizona in 2018-19 and had a career high 61 tackles (37 solo) in 2019 while collecting 15 special teams tackles. The 28-year Walker was originally drafted by Philadelphia in the seventh round (251st overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Oregon and played 12 games with San Francisco last year.

Hudson will wear jersey #61, Wells will wear #41, Dortch will wear #83, Mauro will wear #96, Peterson will wear #27, and Walker will wear #59.

Glad to have Hudson back, hope that Watt gets well soon.