Cardinals’ Jared Veldheer will be placed on IR with ankle injury
Dec 11, 2017, 12:38 PM | Updated: 5:43 pm
Arizona Cardinals tackle Jared Veldheer (68) in the first half during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The Arizona Cardinals will finish the 2017 season without both of their starting tackles. Head coach Bruce Arians told reporters Monday that left tackle Jared Veldheer will be placed on the injured reserve with a cracked ankle.
Veldheer entered the Week 14 game against Tennessee with an elbow injury. Arians said Veldheer told him he thought he sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals later determined the tackle had broken it.
Veldheer was the starting right tackle for the first nine games of the year after third-year pro D.J. Humphries earned the left tackle role. Humphries injured his knee in Week 1 but returned before suffering a dislocated kneecap on Nov. 9 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Arizona’s offensive line depth could be even worse off because right guard Earl Watford, a midseason signee who was starting, suffered a high ankle sprain Sunday in a 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
The injuries shift rookie Will Holden to left tackle and backup guard Evan Boehm to right guard.
“That’s the plan right now,” Arians said. “We’ll probably have to make a roster move or two. But we’ll probably start there and see what else is available.”
Boehm began the year as the starting right tackle.
The Cardinals have now lost their starting left tackle (Humphries), left guard (Mike Iupati) and right tackle (Veldheer). Only center A.Q. Shipley has started every game on the offensive line.
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