Cardinals CB room pushed past limit with all 3 starters injured

GLENDALE — We often label some players “irreplaceable.” Those are members that a team cannot afford to lose to an injury.

Any starting cornerback qualified for the Arizona Cardinals, and they lost all three to injury in a 27-22 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Max Melton left in the mid-first quarter with a knee injury and did not return after getting carted to the locker room, while star nickelback Garrett Williams was helped by multiple Cardinals staffers to the locker room late in the fourth quarter after grabbing at his left leg in significant pain. The other starter, rookie Will Johnson, injured his groin shortly after that.

All three were not out there for Carolina’s final drive of the game.

Arizona already lost Sean Murphy-Bunting and Starling Thomas V to season-ending injuries before the season started. If Melton, Williams and Johnson were to miss next week, the Cardinals would essentially be down their top five corners.

“(I’m) sick,” quarterback Kyler Murray said of how he feels for the injured corners. “You lose SMB before the season and now it just kind of feels like it’s the domino effect. I got full faith on those guys. Rookies obviously gotta step up and if their name’s called on they get meaningful time. It’ll be good for them to grow up quick but hopefully it’s not too bad for the guys that got hurt.”

Head coach Jonathan Gannon did not have an update on either of the three corners. As you would expect, he brushed off a question when asked if he’s ever been a part of a team going that deep into injuries at one specific position.

“No, no — our job is solutions, so we’ll figure out the solutions,” Gannon said.

Without Melton for the majority of the game, the Cardinals played fifth-round rookie Denzel Burke in his place. Kei’Trel Clark was in for Williams through the not-so-fun late dramatics. Both broke up a pass and did effective jobs to not look like the guys that should respectfully not be out there when the game is on the line.

“That’s high-leverage snaps right there,” Gannon said of Burke and Clark. “They came in and played well. … Lot of confidence in Denzel, I’m sure he’s going to want some plays back (but) I thought he made some plays too. Kei’Trel, I got confidence in. He’s played a lot of ball for us. … They both stepped up to the plate and swung their bat. We needed it.”

Arizona turned to its three-safety looks even more throughout. 2024 third-round pick Elijah Jones was inactive for the second straight game but figures to play a role in the future with the injuries continuing to stack up.

“Guys just gotta be ready to go,” Murray said. “This is the NFL. Injuries happen every week. You never know. I think they understand that and are ready for that. Dudes are itching to play, so you get your opportunity you gotta be ready for it.”

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