The Arizona Cardinals have been without rookie defensive lineman Zach Allen for the last six weeks of the season. The team announced Wednesday he was placed on injured reserve, which will end his season.
To replace him on the roster, they elevated undrafted rookie defensive lineman Miles Brown.
It was a move the Cardinals were trying to avoid. According to Kliff Kingsbury, it is something the organization had discussed.
“The big thing with Zach is the reps are so valuable as a rookie,” he said on Monday. “With our bye week coming up, we’ve kind of targeted that for a while that hopefully that could be a point to get him back for the last five and get those valuable reps.”
Now Allen won’t be able to even practice.
He has not played since appearing in three snaps in Week 4 when he suffered a stinger. At some point, he had a setback and has not practiced in weeks.
What is unknown is why the decision was made to do it now. The first injury report of Week 11 was not out at the time of publishing, so it is not known if the team was going to short on players on the defensive line. Clinton McDonald was placed on IR last week and Rodney Gunter had his leg looked at during the game on Sunday, although he finished the game.
Allen began the season as a starter after getting drafted in the third round of the draft this year. He appeared in four games and finishes the season with eight tackles, one for loss and three QB hits.
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