GLENDALE - The Arizona Cardinals have spent the past 365 days taking one hit after another, and the latest stretch of bad news only adds to the pile.
After a 3-14 2025 season that led the NFL in injuries to starters by a wide margin, Arizona turned over almost its entire coaching staff and brought in head coach Mike LaFleur, who has drawn plenty of optimism with a strong preseason. But the one thing that still hasn’t changed is the Cardinals’ brutal injury luck.
The first four draft picks in the 2026 NFL draft have already dealt with injuries, and two of them are expected to miss their entire rookie season.
Here’s the rundown of the Cardinals’ injured rookies:
RB Jeremiyah Love (Ankle)
OL Chase Bisontis (MCL)
QB Carson Beck (Ribs)
DT Kaleb Proctor (Meniscus)
Bisontis and Proctor are done for the year, while Arizona is still hoping Beck and Love are dealing with short-term issues. Love’s workload in his first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders raised eyebrows, with many experts and pundits questioning why the rookie was given 11 carries. LaFleur pushed back on that concern, saying Love was eager to get on the field and that he wanted him to get real reps before the team’s season opener on Sept. 13th.
On Tuesday, the 39-year-old head coach said the players who will suit up for Saturday’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys will be announced later in the week. With the recent wave of injuries, LaFleur and his staff may be weighing the risk of putting any starters out there at all.
And after what happened to last year’s team, plenty of people are looking for a reason behind all of this. Is it the heat?
The field? The training staff?
Are the Cardinals cursed? Or is it just plain bad luck?
It would be foolish to guess. What’s certain is that LaFleur has to navigate the next month carefully if Arizona wants its best 53-man roster ready for the season opener.
In Other News...
Cardinals Get Several Key Names Back As Roster Pressure Builds
Several familiar names were back on the practice field when the Cardinals opened their session to reporters, with Trey Benson, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Elijah Higgins and Baron Browning all taking part as Arizona works through a preseason shaped by injuries. With two preseason games left, the staff is trying to balance getting key players back into the mix with the usual caution around starters, who are expected to see only limited action.
Murphy-Buntings return matters because Arizona still needs stability in the secondary, while Bensons presence is more about progress than immediate availability as he comes back from meniscus surgery. The roster squeeze is also getting tighter by the day, and every practice rep matters for players trying to make a case before the Cardinals start trimming down to 53. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Hit With Brutal Injury Setback As Backfield Questions Linger
The Cardinals backfield remains one of the more delicate parts of their injury picture, even as camp churns on around it. Running backs Trey Benson and James Conner are both still working their way back, and while the team says each is making progress, there still isnt a clear road map for when either one will be ready to rejoin the offense in a meaningful way.
Arizona also took a hard hit elsewhere when Chase Bisontis was diagnosed with a torn MCL that will require surgery, a setback that strips away more depth at a time when the roster is already being tested. Tight end Elijah Higgins is recovering from a concussion, leaving the Cardinals to navigate multiple health questions at once while they wait for the running game to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]