Injuries Hit Cards Hard

Injuries Hit Cards Hard

The Cardinals got disappointing news following their narrow defeat against the Oakland Raiders in their preseason opener. It appears that linebacker Chike Okeafor, and offensive lineman Oliver Ross are done for the season. Okeafor torn his left bicep muscle and will seek a second opinion this week in Arizona. Ross tore his left tricep and will also seek a second opinion. The impact is going to be massive for a Cardinal team that is not deep at the linebacker or offensive tackle positions. Okeafor is the Cardinals highest paid defensive player and one of the defensive leaders. His transition to the 3-4 was taking place before our eyes and everyone in the Cardinals organization and in the media in the valley of the sun felt that this would be a Pro Bowl Year for Okeafor.

Look for the Cardinals to throw Levi Brown in with all first team practices and drills this week-- the Cardinals now have to speed Brown's maturation process up, let's see if Brown was worth all that cash. Darryl Blackstone should get the first shot at Okeafor's position but has not proven himself in his first two seasons with the Cardinals-- these are some big shoes to fill and have many in the desert already throwing in the towel. Calvin Pace will also get a shot and may eventually take the position but Blockstock is getting the first shot at it. Let's all cross our fingers and hope that we don't see any more major injuries from the Cards and the rest of the NFL this preseason.