Cardinals running back David Johnson will undergo wrist surgery this week, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. He’s expected to miss between two and three months of action. The Cardinals will place him on IR with the hope that he’ll be able to return during the season.
Sunday will represent Johnson’s first missed game as a pro, and while the Cardinals — who are now signing Chris Johnson — have some veterans who will take over, none are on David Johnson‘s level. While David Johnson sat behind both Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington as a rookie in 2015, he’s taken massive leaps as the latest Arizona third-round success story.
David Johnson must spend at least eight weeks on IR, so Week 10 would profile as his earliest return window. The Cardinals play both Seahawks games in the second half, with Week 10 being the NFC West contenders’ first meeting.
The Cardinals hoped the second opinion Johnson sought could prevent this, but AZCardinals.com’s Darren Urban categorized the attempt as a “hail mary” (Twitter link).
The 2016 first-team All-Pro was Arizona’s top weapon and its most reliable factor in making a potential playoff return. But this changes the Cardinals’ season before Week 2 even begins. The third-year back totaled over 2,100 yards from scrimmage and scored 20 touchdowns last season.
In addition to Ellington and Chris Johnson, the Cardinals employ Kerwynn Williams — who’s functioned as a backup in Arizona for four seasons — and just signed D.J. Foster off the Patriots’ practice squad. Arizona also has 2016 UDFA Elijhaa Penny, although with CJ2K now back in the fold, this five-running back setup may not last — especially now that David Johnson will be on IR.
Seems to always happen. Big time players with major injuries in week 1. Bummer.
So many fantasy teams are wrecked.