Cardinals’ D.J. Humphries ejected vs. Seahawks after making contact with referee

If there’s one position the Arizona Cardinals have depth, it’s at offensive tackle. Even with Arizona trading Josh Jones to the Houston Texans before the start of the year, D.J. Humphries, Paris Johnson Jr. and Kelvin Beachum gave them reliable options.

That depth was tested Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks when Humphries earned an ejection in a unique way: A scuffle after Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs was intercepted landed Humphries in the locker room for making contact with an official.

The lead-up to Humphries’ departure in the 20-10 loss to the Seahawks was a lot.

Dobbs targeted rookie receiver Michael Wilson on a pass but was picked off in the end zone by Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon, yet a roughing the passer penalty negated the mistake. To follow the live game action, Seattle linebacker Jordyn Brooks earned unnecessary roughness by getting into a scuffle with Humphries, whose swipe of Brooks’ arm caught a referee’s head.

#AZCardinals LT D.J. Humphries ejected for making contact with an official pic.twitter.com/yixvvLoLY5

— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) October 22, 2023

Beachum took over for Humphries at left tackle, and Arizona quickly got out of the mess of a first-and-20 at the Seattle 20-yard line.

Dobbs went magician on the Seahawks’ defense, pulling a read-option out of the chest of running back Emari Demercado and scooting 25 yards through contact to score his second rushing touchdown of the season.

Josh Dobbs from 25 yards out 👀

📺: #AZvsSEA on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/iTs8HMaXlh pic.twitter.com/3hjhnRYW2K

— NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2023

The score gave the Cardinals a 10-7 lead with 9:11 left in the first half.

The Seahawks answered with a nine-play, 76-yard drive themselves, closing it with a replay-reviewed toe-tap catch by Jake Bobo for an 18-yard reception.

That gave Seattle a 14-10 lead at halftime.

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