A defensive unit that has been decimated by injuries and suspensions this year took another significant blow this weekend, as the Cardinals will be without linebacker Matt Shaughnessy for an extended period. Head coach Bruce Arians confirmed today that Shaughnessy suffered knee cartilage damage, and will be placed on the injured reserve with the designation to return, tweets Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic.
The Cardinals’ linebacking corps took its first hit in the offseason when Karlos Dansby left for Cleveland. Since then, the club has also lost Daryl Washington to a year-long suspension and placed John Abraham on injured reserve after he suffered a concussion.
It’s not just the linebacker position where the Cardinals are shorthanded — already dealing with a season-ending injury for Darnell Dockett, the club saw defensive end Calais Campbell go down with a knee injury of his own on Sunday. According to Arians (per Somers, via Twitter), Campbell didn’t suffer a tear, but sprained his MCL and will be sidelined for one to three weeks.
As for Shaughnessy, the designation to return means he’ll be eligible to resume practicing six weeks from now, and can return to game action in eight weeks. For the full breakdown of how teams have used that IR-DTR slot this year, be sure to check out our tracker.