The Arizona Cardinals entered Week 16 with several key players injured. Facing the Carolina Panthers, they played without left tackle Paris Johnson, who has a knee injury that could keep him out multiple weeks, running back Trey Benson with an ankle injury, inside linebacker Mack Wilson with a concussion and outside linebacker Jesse Luketa, placed on injured reserve with a thigh injury.
In their 36-30 overtime loss that eliminated them from postseason contention, more key players went down.
- Running back James Conner, who had up until that point rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and caught four passes for 49 yards, injured his right knee and could not return.
- Starting right tackle Jonah Williams went down a play after Conner came out. He hurt his knee and had to be assisted to the locker room. His injury looked like it could be serious. ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss noted after the game that Williams left on crutches with a brace on his knee.
- Linebacker Baron Browning, who had a sack for the second straight week and two tackles, left with a neck injury and didn’t return.
- Safety Joey Blount, perhaps their best special teams player, made a tackle on a punt play and injured his ribs. He was in a lot of pain and did not return.
The Cardinals have two games remaining on the schedule. We will see if any of these players will be able to play again.
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