"A year ago, Cardinals outside linebacker Clark Haggans felt trapped. The LisFranc sprain in his left foot might as well have been an anchor, dragging him to the injured reserve list and out of the lineup for the playoffs.

This season, Haggans has been a regular starter at left outside linebacker and has been among the team's more consistent defenders.

"This is a blessing," Haggans said. "The injury I had last year, they were saying how my career could possibly be over. It crosses my mind how valuable football is to a player, how much you love the game and how you sometimes take it for granted."

Haggans, in his 10th season, has been to the playoffs before and won a Super Bowl ring as a starter for the 2005 Steelers. Since suffering the injury last season, he has focused on returning to the postseason.

"This means more to me than a lot of my teammates think," he said. "It just ate at me, day after day, to see them running around and I'm just hanging out, basically injured and in a cage."

Running back Jason Wright, in contrast, is eagerly awaiting his first playoff appearance in six NFL seasons. He was with the Falcons in 2004 when they went to the NFC title game, but he was inactive for both playoff games.

Wright played the next four seasons with Cleveland before signing with the Cardinals last off-season.

"I used to try and claim it early in my career," he said of the Falcons playoff year. "I'm kind just following the crowd on this, but it seems like the attention to detail and focus is ramped up. And it's like it happened real naturally. Nobody said anything and it's probably because they've been there before."

Injury update

Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and free safety Antrel Rolle practiced Thursday on a limited basis, an encouraging sign for the Cardinals, who are battling significant injuries on defense."