A very sad and painful report for Arizona Cardinals: he is gone….
The Cardinals were counting on their own players’ development to improve their pass rush this season.
The guy they were counting on the most won’t be a part of it.
Second-year outside linebacker BJ Ojulari hurt his left knee at practice on Friday, coach Jonathan Gannon confirmed on Saturday, and will miss the season. Ojulari was rushing the passer and battling right tackle Jonah Williams when he went down in obvious distress. Multiple reports said Ojulari tore his ACL.
The Cardinals, who already had an open roster spot and will have a second once they put Ojulari on Injured Reserve, figure to already have been looking at potential signees.
“Obviously, I feel bad for him and for the team,” Gannon said. “He did a lot of work in the offseason and was going to be a big part of what we do, but he will come back stronger and better than ever next year.”
The Cardinals have a laundry list of similar options at the edge after staying relatively pat at the position during the offseason. Veteran Zaven Collins will start on one side — presumably across from Ojulari when healthy — and the roster includes Dennis Gardeck, Victor Dimukeje, Jesse Luketa, Cam Thomas, Tyreke Smith and fifth-round draft pick Xavier Thomas.
