Carson Palmer, Greg Hardy Among Early-Game Inactives

Among the notable early-game inactives around the National Football League on the second Sunday of the regular season are Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer and Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy.

Palmer suffered a shoulder injury last week against the San Diego Chargers and didn’t practice all week. It was assumed that he would still be able to go against the New York Giants today. That’s obviously no longer the case.

As Schefter noted, Drew Stanton will get the call with Palmer sidelined. The Michigan State product has four starts in seven-plus NFL seasons. He last started as a member of the Detroit Lions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in December of 2010. Stanton has a career 55.6 completion percentage with five touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Yielding to outside pressure, the Carolina Panthers have decided to deactivate Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy, who was just recently convicted on domestic violence charges. Hardy is in the midst of an appeal, which has enabled him to suit up. Coming off the entire Ray Rice scandal, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson has drawn a ton of criticism from fans and writers alike. This move comes less than a week after the video of Rice beating up his then-fiancee Janay Palmer was released by the gossip rag TMZ.

On the field, this is a big loss for a Panthers team that relies on pressure to get to the quarterback. Without Hardy in the mix, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will likely have more time in the pocket to find wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.

Other important early-game inactives include: 

Jordan Cameron, Tight End, Cleveland Browns

Ben Tate, Running Back, Cleveland Browns

Kenbrell Thompkins, Wide Receiver, New England Patriots

Adrian Peterson, Running Back, Minnesota Vikings

DeAngelo Williams, Running Back, Carolina Panthers

Jordan Reed, Tight End, Washington Redskins

Photo: USA Today