Lightning strikes twice for Cardinals this summer as another crushing injury further tests one of team’s youngest position rooms
The Arizona Cardinals' secondary has had a rough offseason. The calendar has yet to flip to July, and the team has already endured its second season-ending injury to a major contributor from last year's unit. First, it was Sean Murphy-Bunting, who was placed on the non-football injury list at the end of May with a […]
The Arizona Cardinals' secondary has had a rough offseason. The calendar has yet to flip to July, and the team has already endured its second season-ending injury to a major contributor from last year's unit. First, it was Sean Murphy-Bunting, who was placed on the non-football injury list at the end of May with a knee injury.
Just several days into training camp, the injury bug has bitten the Cardinals again. Cornerback Starling Thomas V has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the 2025 season.
Starling Thomas V suffers a season-ending knee injury at training camp
This latest injury for Arizona brings the total of 2024 snaps lost in the secondary due to summer knee injuries to over 1,500. Thomas V played 817 snaps on defense for the Cardinals in 2024, showing promising growth as a starter in his second season after entering the league as an undrafted free agent out of UAB in 2023. Thomas was well positioned to be a contributor once again in 2025 despite the drafted of former Michigan cornerback Will Johnson in the top-50 of the 2025 NFL Draft, thanks in large part to the injury to Murphy-Bunting.
The Cardinals still have a number of young names who can emerge as difference makers on the back-end, including Johnson. The team's 2024 second-round pick, Max Melton, is poised to be a beneficiary after logging meaningful snaps as a rookie. Fellow 2024 draft choice Elijah Jones, a third-round pick out of Boston College, is another name to watch.
Injuries are, unfortunately, a part of the game. Everyone knows the deal when the season starts. But the Cardinals have to be hoping that the injury bug going around their secondary offers the team a bit of reprieve, especially given how early in the season it is to have already had two major, season-ending injuries in the same room.
Cardinals’ defensive line overhaul takes a major blow with an injury that puts start of 2025 season in doubt
When the Arizona Cardinals entered into training camp this week, it would have been fair to assume that second-round draft choice Will Johnson was the biggest medical question mark from the team's 2025 draft class. After all, it was Johnson who tumbled from a potential top-15 draft choice all the way to the fringes of […]
