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The Cardinals remain confident they will be able to find the rhythm to their passing game once the regular season starts.

 

What pieces they have in place for the passing game remains unknown.

The only Cardinal to miss practice Wednesday was Pro Bowl receiver Anquan Boldin, who still has not practiced since hurting his hamstring the week of the Green Bay preseason game. Boldin wasn’t available for interviews Wednesday, but he told FSN Tuesday night while attending the Diamondbacks-Dodgers game that he would “most definitely” play against the 49ers. That was before, of course, he sat out practice Wednesday.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt sounded a lot like Boldin, however. “We have a history with Q and that’s why I feel good about saying I have a good feeling about him playing,” Whisenhunt said.

Quarterback Kurt Warner said he’d be “concerned” if Boldin couldn’t play, but added the Cardinals have built up a deep receiving corps for a reason.

“You always want to have all your weapons every time you step out there,” Warner said. “But if anybody's not able to go, we just throw another guy in and you still have to play football. The one fortunate thing is, if Q can't go, the other guys have gotten a lot of reps in the preseason because he hurt himself fairly early.

“That’s a security blanket when you have Q out there. I know what he does. I know how he runs routes. We have a great rapport out there. We’ll get him as healthy as we can as soon as we can and he'll help us. In the meantime, we've got to take care of business without him if he can't go.”

While fellow 1,000-yard receiver Steve Breaston is still on the official injury report with his sore knee, he practiced full and Whisenhunt said the whole point of playing Breaston in the final preseason game was to knock the rust off before the regular season. Whisenhunt said Breaston has proven in practice he is prepared to play.

The Cards brought in new backup offensive lineman Jeremy Bridges in large part because Whisenhunt noticed Bridges’ play as a starter for Carolina in both the Cards-Panthers meetings last season. Whisenhunt said Bridges started one game at guard and one at tackle and was “very impressive.”

“When you think about a position where we need someone to play both positions,” Whisenhunt said, “he’s a very good fit.”

If the Cards have just seven offensive linemen active on game days, which they have done many times, Bridges’ versatility means they could have him and backup center Ben Claxton up and free a spot for another part of the roster.

Aside from Boldin and Breaston, four other player are listed on the first injury report of the season. Wide receivers Early Doucet (ribs) and Sean Morey (ribs), along with quarterback Brian St. Pierre (back), all were limited in their work. Safety Matt Ware (shoulder) practiced full.