Cardinals WR Boldin hopeful of playing in NFC title game

Jan 11, 2009 - 6:50 PM CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin on Saturday night said he hopes to play in next weekend's NFC Championship game.

Boldin was listed as inactive for Saturday's NFC divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers. Arizona won, 33-13, and will face either the Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants next Sunday for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

"It got a lot better from last week until today," Boldin said of his optimism for playing in the title game. "Hopefully I'll get the same thing going into this week.

"For myself, I just want to get out there a couple days and get a couple practices under my belt before I step out on the game field."

Boldin said he expected to play against the Panthers - until he set foot on the field for pregame warmups.

"Sitting in the hotel I was thinking to myself that 'It's a go, it's a go,' from how I was feeling," Boldin said. "But when I got out there and tried to run on it, it wasn't going to allow me to.

"I just tried to warm up and get it going. But as you can see, it never did feel quite right. So they kept me out."

Boldin did not practice all week after suffering a hamstring injury at the tail end of a 71-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter Arizona's 30-24 wild card playoff win over Atlanta.

"If there was any way I could of went today, I'd would have been out there. It just wouldn't allow me to," he said.

The three-time Pro Bowler also missed Arizona's final two regular-season games with a shoulder injury.

Boldin finished second on the team with 89 catches for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns, despite also missing two games earlier in the season with a concussion and facial fractures.