LaFleur: Michael Wilson (ribs) good to go

It was the second consecutive day in which Wilson practiced with a yellow non-contact jersey after stating Wednesday that the team was simply being overly cautious. Wilson appears on track to maintain a high-volume role in the pass-heavy Cardinals offense in Week 8 against the Cowboys, where he will be a borderline WR1, if active.

Wilson was on the practice field wearing a non-contact jersey on Wednesday. He is dealing with a rib injury, presumably suffered in the Cardinals’ Week 7 loss to the Broncos. He will be limited as long as he wears the non-contact jersey and ideally finishes the week without it in order to play in Week 8 against the Cowboys. Kendrick Bourne suddenly becomes the WR1 if Wilson cannot go.

Jacoby Brissett once again tried to get Wilson going downfield, but the best he could muster was 16 yards on their longest connection. Without a long play to juice the box score, Wilson was held under 10 PPR points for the third week in a row. All three of those games have been on the heels of the Marvin Harrison Jr. trade, or his one-game absence leading into the transaction. The target totals have held steady, but the production is lacking. The good news for Wilson is that he gets the Cowboys in Week 8. Facing one of the league’s worst pass defenses, Wilson will stick in the WR2 ranks next week.

Wilson’s day would have looked a lot different if a would-be 36-yard touchdown pass from Jacoby Brissett had not glanced off Wilson’s fingertips while he dove for it in the end zone. He had another 30-yarder go off his hands on the following drive, and had a five-yard catch overturned by a penalty. The disappointing box score results could allow fantasy managers to send a successful buy-low offer. Wilson is a WR2/3 next week against the Broncos.

Cardinals fans appear to be pining for the team to bench Jacoby Brissett and start the rookie in the coming weeks as another season circles the drain for Arizona. Beck so far has been the Cards’ emergency third quarterback. Urban said there remains a “chance Beck is made the backup this week or next and allow him to come on in relief if the situation presents itself. I don’t see Beck starting in the immediate future, but it does feel his time grows closer, and if the offense continues to sputter, that would be understandable.” Brissett this season ranks 15th in passing yards. He’s thrown nine touchdowns to five interceptions and ranks 30th out of 37 qualifying QBs in adjusted yards per attempt. He won’t be a viable fantasy play this week against a tough Rams coverage unit.

Wilson almost scored a passing touchdown via an end-around trick play on the Cardinals’ opening drive, but his receiver, Jacoby Brissett, was stopped two yards shy of the end zone. Heartbreak struck again two drives later, when Wilson only got one foot in bounds along the sideline on a would-be 19-yard catch. Brissett went right back to him on the following play, but the contested pass edged past Wilson’s outstretched hands. Wilson tacked on a couple of short gains before snagging a 17-yard pass on the Cardinals’ ninth drive, and he nearly bagged a 47-yard touchdown down the left sideline on the 10th drive, but his coverage defender effectively contested it, resulting in an incompletion. Wilson should handle a WR2-level workload against the Rams in Week 6.

Wilson is now up to a staggering 30 targets over the past two weeks after that number was “just” 14 across Weeks 1 and 2. He is managing to drew more looks than one of the biggest target sponges in the league Trey McBride, though the seam man still has 23 targets the past two weeks. Wilson and McBride have turned this offense into a two-man affair, with No. 3 Marvin Harrison Jr. now a distant role player. That’s all good and well in fantasy for the time being, but Jacoby Brissett has quietly been amongst the most ineffective QBs in the league. The rebuilding Birds may decide to get a look at Carson Beck sooner rather than later. Either way, that won’t be before next week’s potential shootout with the Lions. Wilson is now a weekly WR3 pushing for top-24 status.

Wilson saw season-highs across the board as the Cardinals played catch-up against the 49ers for much of the day. He operated as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver, seeing over three times the opportunities as Marvin Harrison Jr. Catching much of the outside passes and intermediate crossers for the day, Wilson scored on a five-yard Jacoby Brissett pass in the third quarter. It’s clear he is Brissett’s top target in the offense, especially when the team is playing from behind. Wilson ranks as a high-end fantasy WR3 heading into Week 4 against the Giants.

Wilson had a brutal day. The Seahawks prevented two receptions by committing defensive pass interference, and QB Jacoby Brissett prevented at least two more with a pair of overthrows. One led to an interception. The other led to a dropped interception. Wilson remains WR3/FLEX-viable against the 49ers in Week 3, coming off consecutive seven-target games. He is stuck in a tough situation, but the opportunities to score fantasy points should be there next week. Not every defense is as well-designed and talented as Seattle’s.

Wilson nearly came down with a couple deep shots from Jacoby Brissett. He was clearly favored — as he was last season — over Marvin Harrison, Jr., who ended the game with just one grab for 33 yards. Wilson, who signed a huge contract extension with the Cards before the season opener, has a good shot of operating as Arizona’s No. 1 wideout this season. Brissett’s willingness to go downfield even against tight coverage will give Wilson weekly chances to emerge as a matchup-tilting wideout in fantasy football. Wilson will be a WR3 play in Week 2 against a tough Seattle secondary.