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The Arizona Cardinals are in rebuild mode (again), with a new head coach and a quiver of promising draft picks, but their roster reconstruction has gone sideways mere weeks into the start of training camp because their top four rookies are all injured.
Arizona’s first round pick is injured.
The second round pick is out for the season.
The third round pick is injured.
The fourth round pick is out for the season.
The Cardinals had seven selections in the April NFL draft. A majority are injured.
The Cursedinals.
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The latest of the bad news is that running back Jeremiyah Love, the third player taken in the first round of the draft, is out indefinitely with an ankle injury. And, this isn’t just a tweak.
Love is likely to miss the remainder of the preseason and his availability for the start of the season is in question.
That news comes hours after head coach Mike LaFleur announced that guard Chase Bisontis, the team’s second round pick and the 34th player taken in the draft, is going to miss the entire season.
LaFleur told reporters over the weekend that Bisontis would be placed on the Injured Reserve list, which by NFL rules means he’s automatically out for the entire season when the designation is applied in the preseason.
Bisontis suffered an MCL injury in his left knee in last Thursday’s preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders. He will require surgery.
“He will be out for a good amount of time, if not the whole year,” LaFleur said. “Sucks for him. Always think about the player first. Sucks for the Cardinals too. He’s a good player, but more importantly, you hate it for the player.”
The sucking is not stopping for the Cardinals.
Quarterback Carson Beck, the team’s third-round pick, had a good preseason debut in the Hall of Fame game two weeks ago. He completed 15 of 19 passes with a touchdown pass, suggesting he should be included in the team’s competition for the starting quarterback job.
But, nope.
Beck injured his ribs in the game and has not practiced since. He missed the preseason game against the Raiders as well.
LaFleur has been coy about giving the exact status of the injury — whether there was a fracture or there is ligament or other soft tissue damage. He’s only offered that Beck has experienced “soreness.”
But that soreness has left Beck’s status uncertain for practice this week and Saturday’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.
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Then there is fourth-round pick Kaleb Proctor, who was placed on preseason IR the first day the club reported for training camp on July 22.
Proctor injured a knee during an Organized Team Activity session in June. He reportedly tore his meniscus and has required surgery.
So Proctor is also out for the year.
The only bit of encouraging news out of any of this is that Love and Beck are expected to return at some point.
Love suffered a “mild high ankle sprain,” per Dr. David Chao, OutKick’s medical expert and the founder of Sports Injury Central.
Chao said “the hope” is Love can be ready for Week 1 of the regular season, but that is to be determined. The problem with ankle sprains is that coming back too early often leads to re-aggravating the weakened ankle, making the situation worse.
This pandemic of injuries to the rookie class is not normal. The Cardinals are the only NFL team that are managing injuries to more than half their draft picks.
It’s almost as if they’re cursed.
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