Injuries are a reality with all NFL teams. However, the Arizona Cardinals were hit particularly hard this past season.
The Cardinals finished with 18 players on injured reserve. Seven of their Week 1 starters finished the season on IR. They had 196 lost games to injuries by 33 players.
The offensive and defensive fronts, as well as special teams, were hit particularly hard.
Three starting offensive linemen (left tackle Paris Johnson, right guard Will Hernandez and right tackle Jonah Williams) finished the year on injured reserve. Johnson spent two games on IR, Hernandez 12 games and Williams 11 in two stints.
The defensive line had two starters — Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols — miss a combined 25 games on injured reserve.
Expected starting outside linebacker BJ Ojulari suffered a season-ending injury in training camp. Dennis Gardeck, his replacement in the starting lineup and the team’s 2023 sack leader, missed 10 games on IR.
Kicker Matt Prater ended the season on IR having played in only four game.
Punter Blake Gillikin spent the last four games on injured reserve.
The Cardinals were not considered a very deep team in terms of talent. Had they been a little healthier, they probably could have had a better finish to the season.
To wrap things up, below are the significant players the Cardinals had on IR to end the season, their role and how many games they were on IR.
- RB James Conner (starting RB), 1 game
- RB Trey Benson (backup RB), 1 game (3 games missed)
- RB Emari Demercado (third-down RB, core special teamer), 4 games
- OL Paris Johnson (starting left tackle), 2 games
- OL Will Hernandez (starting right guard), 12 games
- OL Jonah Williams (starting right tackle), 11 games in two trips
- DL Justin Jones (starting defensive tackle, biggest free agent addition), 14 games
- DL Bilal Nichols (starting defensive tackle, key free agent addition), 11 games
- OLB BJ Ojulari (starting OLB, expected top pass rusher), 17 games
- OLB Dennis Gardeck (starting OLB after Ojulari, 2023 sack leader), 10 games
- K Matt Prater (starting kicker), 11 games (13 missed)
- P Blake Gillikin (starting punter), 4 games
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.