David Johnson Injury Update: Cardinals RB Carted to Locker Room

Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson was helped off the field and carted to the locker room after suffering a leg injury on a nasty-looking hit.

Things have gone disappointingly for the Arizona  Cardinals in the 2016 NFL season. Thought to be Super Bowl contenders, there hasn’t been much that has gone right for this team. If there was one bright spot throughout the year, though, it was running back David Johnson. Just coming into Week 17, Johnson had already amassed 2,000 all-purpose yards. Though a long-shot, a big receiving day against the Los Angeles Rams in the finale could’ve given him a 1,000-yard rushing and 1,000-yard receiving season in the same year.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if that’s going to happen following a nasty looking hit that left the Cardinals running back injured.

Late in the first quarter, Johnson was trying to make a play with the ball in his hands, looking for a seem to open up so he could burst through and get positive yardage. However, Rams defensive end Eugene Sim came in and hit the running back. But the fall to the ground was even more nasty looking as Sims got twisted up in Johnson’s knee on the way to the ground. Johnson stayed on the ground for a while:

Johnson was eventually helped to the sidelines after the hit, but didn’t stay there long. The Cardinals brought out the cart to help him to the locker room:

Though you never want to speculate things like severity or what it could be without being there or examining it, that doesn’t look good or like something that will heal quickly for the running back.

Next: Arizona Cardinals 7-Round 2017 Mock Draft

It’s the end of the Cardinals’ season as they’ve been eliminated from the playoffs. However, the last thing you want is to see a player like David Johnson suffer this type of injury now and then miss the start of the 2017 season. Subsequently, this is tough to see for the dynamic second-year player. We’ll keep you updated as to his status.

Update No. 1

Good news coming from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The initial tests on the knee of David Johnson didn’t show any damage to the ACL of the Cardinals running back. There is damage to the meniscus and this will all need to be confirmed by Monday’s MRI. Considering what the injury looked like, though, Arizona has to feel favorably about these initial tests.

Update No. 2

While doing his postgame radio interview, head coach Bruce Arians stated that there actually doesn’t appear to be any ligament damage in the knee of Johnson. Again, this is unconfirmed and will hinge on the MRI that’s coming on Monday. However, things are looking increasingly positive—and miraculous even—given how the injury went down.