Arizona Cardinals sign Rodrigo Blankenship to practice squad, designate Cody Ford to return from IR

Well, it only took two weeks, but the Arizona Cardinals are going a different way at kicker if Matt Prater is still unable to kick on Thursday.

The team also announced they are activating Cody Ford from IR, and he is now in his three-week window to return.

From the team:

The Arizona Cardinals Football Club today announced that the team has designated offensive lineman Cody Ford to return from the injured reserve list.

Ford can begin practicing and the team can activate him to the 53-man roster at any time during the next 21 days or at the conclusion of the three-week period.

In addition, the team has signed kicker Rodrigo Blankenship and linebacker Blake Lynch to the practice squad and has released wide receiver Stanley Berryhill from the practice squad.

Blankenship (6-1, 184) kicked in 22 games with the Colts after originally entering the league with Indianapolis in 2020 as an undrafted rookie free agent from Georgia. In his career, the 25-year old Blankenship has made 45-of-54 field goals and 52-of-55 extra points, scoring 187 points. He kicked in all 16 games as a rookie and five games last year with Indianapolis prior to playing one game this season. While at Georgia, Blankenship won the Lou Groza award in 2019 as the nation’s top kicker.

Lynch (6-3, 225) played 16 games (six starts) with Minnesota last season and appeared in four games (one start) as a rookie after entering the league with the Vikings in 2020 as an undrafted rookie free agent from Baylor. With the Vikings, Lynch had 47 tackles (31 solo), 2.0 sacks, one interception, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Blankenship will wear jersey #15 and Lynch will wear jersey #55.

Let’s hope Ford can play well and if Blankenship is needed, can come through.