Arians: Cardinals OG Evan Mathis ‘day-to-day’ with foot injury
Sep 13, 2016, 8:12 PM | Updated: 11:33 pm
Arizona Cardinals guard Evan Mathis (69) is helped off the field after an injury against the New England Patriots during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals guard Evan Mathis is day-to-day with a foot injury, head coach Bruce Arians said during a Tuesday interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
Arians says @EvanMathis69 is "day-to-day" with foot injury & says loss of Frostee Rucker will hurt from leadership standpoint@AZCardinals
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) September 14, 2016
Mathis went down midway through the second quarter in the Cardinals’ 23-21 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday with what was called a left foot injury. He briefly returned but was eventually replaced at right guard by Earl Watford.
Arians relaying the news of Mathis being day-to-day is seemingly good news after the offensive lineman was expected to undergo an MRI of his foot on Monday, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
Losing Mathis would wtest Arizona’s offensive line depth. The 34-year-old performed well in his first game with the Cardinals, according to Pro Football Focus. In relief, Watford earned the unfortunate distinction of having the NFL’s worst grade for a right guard during Week 1, according to the website.
Watford struggled blocking in both the pass and run game. He allowed a quarterback hit, and there were two times where he was beaten while pass blocking, but a pressure wasn’t recorded; he was also beaten twice for tackles in the run game.
That, of course, is a small sample size of less than a half of football.
The Cardinals consider Watford their Swiss Army Knife with his ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line. It is possible he is still shaking off rust after missing time in training camp due to a knee injury suffered in early August.
