👋 GOOD MORNING — Happy Monday! I hope you had an amazing weekend.

Who is ready for some Cardinals football this weekend?! Arizona hosts Kansas City at 5 pm on Saturday, kicking off its NFL preseason slate at State Farm Stadium. There’s a lot of reasons to be excited for the upcoming season, especially considering the Birds’ regular season schedule is the fifth easiest (by opponent 2024 winnings percentage) in the league.

The Cardinals hosted their red and white practice in front of fans on Saturday, though receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. remained sidelined with both a knee injury and an illness, while fellow receiver Michael Wilson is in concussion protocol after a nasty collision with Budda Baker.

The preseason always seems to take forever, but we’re almost there! Both college football and the NFL will be here before you know it.

On to the show!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

The Mercury will have to make due without All-Star forward Satou Sabally for the forseeable future.

Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts told media prior to Sunday’s 83-67 win in Chicago yesterday that the three-time All-Star, who was scratched hours before yesterday’s tip-off, was handling a personal matter.

“She’s out for personal reasons,” Tibbetts said. “We support her through this time, and are excited to get her back when she's ready.”

Sabally was actually benched in Friday’s 95-72 loss to the Atlanta Dream, but Tibbetts did specifically say her leave was not related to that. It has been tough sledding for the team’s leading scorer, as Sabally has not seemed quite right since injuring her ankle, which also forced her to miss the All-Star game.

The 27-year-old had recorded 20-or-more points in nine of 18 games up to July 3, but has yet to hit that mark since.

Fortunately for Phoenix, veterans Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper haven’t missed a beat. The former notched a triple-double in Sunday’s win with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, while the latter exploded for 25 points against the Sky to help the Mercury secure a critical road win.

Phoenix finished its five-game road trip 2-3, and it’s been tough sledding for a bit. The Mercury have lost five of seven games, and their once-sparkling 15-6 record has slipped to 16-11, good for second place in the Western Conference, 6.5 games behind Minnesota.

Of course, the team’s return home will be a welcome boost, as the Mercury play their next four games at PHX Arena, starting with Connecticut at 7 pm tomorrow. Thomas or Copper have led Phoenix in scoring in six of its last seven games, so their presence will be critical as the team gears up for its stretch run.

The Mercury have 16 games left in their regular season schedule, nine of which are at home. Remember, the top eight teams in the league advance to the playoffs — it is not based upon conference standings — and Phoenix currently resides in fourth place.

Losing Sabally definitely stings, especially since the 23 games she has appeared in are the second-most in her six season career (38 in 2023). There’s a little wiggle room, because based on the current standings, they’ll likely need to maintain a .500-or-better record to qualify for the postseason.

When/if Sabally returns, those chances will look a whole lot brighter.

Series Win!: The D-backs clearly aren’t mailing it in despite such an active trade deadline, as Arizona claimed its first series win since sweeping the Cardinals in mid-July with a 6-4 win over the A’s yesterday. Blaze Alexander homered and drove in two runs, and Alek Thomas was 3-for-4 in the win. Eduardo Rodriguez earned the win after allowing two runs while striking out five in five innings.

Arizona now has six straight at home, beginning with the Padres tonight at 6:40 pm.

Tough Weekend: Phoenix Rising FC allowed three goals in a home draw to Birmingham Legion on Saturday, but as our own Owain Evans writes, that was not what stole the headlines over the weekend. Rising coach Pa-Modou Kah confirmed after the game Jearl Margaritha signed with SK Beveren in the Belgian Challenger Pro League. The move was personal in nature.

“We didn’t want to let him go, but we understand that what he needed was to be closer to his family, especially his son,” Kah said. Read more from Owain in his article!

Devilishly Good: Huge congrats to former Sun Devil cornerback Eric Allen, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend. Allen played four years at ASU, helping the team to a Rose Bowl win in 1987, and he enjoyed a 14-year NFL career with the Eagles, Saints and Raiders before his retirement in 2002.

He is the sixth Sun Devils player to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and you just absolutely love to see it. Congrats, Eric!!

Great break down from Stephen, here (as always)

Heading into Monday like: