NFC Notes: Cardinals, Packers, Saints

Cardinals

• Cardinals HC Steve Wilks said Friday that he expects TE Jermaine Gresham (Achilles, active/PUP) and LB Markus Golden (knee) to be activated prior to the season opener. (Bob McManaman)

Packers

• Ian Rapoport reports that Packers rookie LB Oren Burks will miss the season opener with a shoulder injury. However, the good news for Burks is that while he could miss a week or two, the injury is not as serious as originally feared.

Saints

New Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater told reporters on Thursday that he doesn’t mind waiting for an opportunity behind Drew Brees.

“I definitely don’t mind waiting,” said Bridgewater, via ESPN.com. “For me, I get to take advantage of this opportunity to grow as a man and as a football player.

“I’ve been following this offense since I was in college, and to be able to be a part of it now, it’s a great feeling,” added Bridgewater, who explained that he tried to pick about three quarterbacks and offenses to study each offseason to try to better his own game. “You watch the tape, you look at the numbers and things like that, and you say, ‘Wow.’ It’s an opportunity to be a part of something like that.

“I don’t mind waiting. I get to learn from one of the best players to ever play this game, get to be in the room with a great group of guys, get to learn from Coach Payton. So I look forward to that.”

Saints GM Mickey Loomis explained that it’s too early to talk about Bridgewater being the heir apparent to Drew Brees or pursuing an extension.

“Well, I think it’s one step at a time,” Loomis told Sean Fazende of FOX8 NOLA, via Pro Football Talk. “The first step is getting him here and getting to know him as a player and a person and vice versa as well. We’ll just go from there. But look in our quarterback obviously we’ve got Drew [Brees] and that’s been a pretty good thing for us for a long time but he adds to the group. We’ll see what happens.”

“Look, I think that’s a little premature to talk about [Bridgewater as Brees’ heir apparent],” Loomis said. “We just got him in here yesterday. It was an opportunity to get a good, young player at that position who has had success in the league already and fits our culture.”

• Nick Underhill reports that the Saints have been shopping LB Nate Stupar in trade offers.