With Arizona Cardinals right tackle Jonah Williams on the shelf again after suffering his second right knee injury of the season last Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, it will be Jackson Barton making the second start of his career Saturday night against the Los Angeles Rams.
Williams experienced the highest of highs when he scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the end zone in the previous week’s victory over the New England Patriots, only to then hit another low point. His first injury came in the season opener after which he was on injured reserve from Sept. 11 until being activated Nov. 20.
For the $16.78 million he was paid this year ($14 million signing bonus, $2.5 million salary, $100,000 workout bonus and $180,000 in per-game roster bonuses), the Cardinals got six total games played, four complete games and 343 offensive snaps.
As for Barton, he entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2019. In two seasons (2021-22) with the Las Vegas Raiders, he played in eight games with one offensive snap.
Signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Cardinals on April 14, 2023, he has been mostly a practice squad player in Arizona until being signed to the active roster this week.
Last season, he was elevated for three games, played one and had three special teams snaps. In the other two games, he was active, but did not play.
This year, after Williams’ injury, Barton was elevated against the Rams in Week 2 and the Detroit Lions in Week 3, and then was elevated last week with Paris Johnson Jr. inactive because of a knee injury. After Williams was injured, Barton played 30 snaps.
In the game against the Rams, he played six offensive snaps at the end of the game and then started the following week with Kelvin Beachum out because of a hamstring injury.
However, Barton suffered a nasty injury to his right big toe in that game after playing 48 snaps and missed the final 11.
That injury landed him on practice squad injured reserve, where he was from Sept. 25 until Dec. 4. It was a long road back.
“It took a while,” Barton said after practice Thursday. “It’s finally feeling somewhat normal again. I had to take the mindset that every day is just new. I had to progress; make small strides.”
It was something he wasn’t accustomed to because Barton said, “Believe it or not I’d never been injured in football until then. So that was a first for me and a very humbling experience. I tip my hat to guys that have to deal with that and come back and roll right away.”
He said the injury was so bad, at one point he was close to undergoing surgery.
Now, he is ready for the start against the Rams and when asked if there’s a different mindset preparing for a game knowing you will start, he said, “I always take the mindset that you always have to be ready. You never know what might happen. You never want your boys to get hurt in front of you, but at the same time you’ve got to be ready to go when the opportunity comes.”
The challenge against the Rams defense is not lost on Barton.
“Man, that’s a very hard-working group,” he said. “They play with great effort. They play together and they bring it every Sunday. You gotta match effort with effort, so we gotta be ready to roll Saturday night and I know our boys are gonna be ready to roll.”
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