Arizona Cardinals designate Myjai Sanders to return from IR

TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals designated outside linebacker Myjai Sanders for return off injured reserve on Thursday.

Sanders was back among his teammates practicing upon the designation.

First pass rusher during #AZCardinals OL/DL drills…

…OLB Myjai Sanders at front of line…

…after practice window officially opened today following hand injury: pic.twitter.com/Oye3H8nBOl

— Paul Calvisi (@PaulCalvisi) October 12, 2023

Sanders has not played a down this regular season after being placed on injured reserve on Aug. 31 due to a hand injury suffered in training camp.

With his practice window open, Sanders is one step closer to rejoining an outside linebackers room that features Dennis Gardeck, Zaven Collins, Cameron Thomas, Victor Dimukeje, Jesse Luketa and BJ Ojulari.

Sanders, a 2022 third-round pick, recorded three tackles for loss, three sacks, three passes defensed, five QB hits and a forced fumble across 13 games played (four starts) as a rookie last year.

Given his production with just 30% of available defensive snaps and the unknown that surrounded Arizona’s pass rush entering the season, Sanders was very much a candidate for a larger workload before the injury.

Having another option at outside linebacker never hurts, especially in coordinator Nick Rallis’ rotation friendly defense.

Through five games, Gardeck paces the team in sacks with four, while Dimukeje and Collins have 2.5 apiece. Combined the trio has 10 tackles for loss.

But beyond those names, no other Cardinals outside linebacker has registered a sack. Thomas meanwhile is the only other OLB with tackles for loss with two.

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