Professor

Cards' Okeafor, Ross may face surgery

excerpt:

The Cardinals lost more than just a preseason game Saturday night. Two starters suffered injuries that could end their seasons.

Outside linebacker Chike Okeafor suffered a torn left bicep, and offensive right tackle Oliver Ross suffered a torn left tricep, according to a club official.

Both players underwent MRIs on Sunday, which confirmed the tears. Both players are expected to seek second opinions, and if surgery is necessary, they likely will miss the rest of the season.

Okeafor, who played the strong side, is a key part of the defensive plans for this year. Because of his versatility, he was moved from defensive end to outside linebacker in the 3-4. He was having an excellent training camp.

Okeafor's backup, Darryl Blackstock, has little experience. The team could move Calvin Pace or Joe Tafoya from the weak outside linebacker to try and compensate for Okeafor's loss.

Ross was starting at right tackle, but was locked in a battle for the job with Levi Brown, the fifth overall pick.

Brown will now move into the starting lineup, but if Ross is gone for the season, the Cardinals are left thin at the position. The top backups would be Brandon Gorin and Qasim Mitchell.

The Cardinals had Sunday off and return to training camp practice today. Coach Ken Whisenhunt was not available for comment on Sunday.

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gruntbygod

That sucks for them.

Okefor and Berry would have been a good OLB tandem. I think Brown would have replaced Ross on the right side before preseason was over anyways

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Professor

definitely the Okeafor injury hurts more, too bad, although wern't Okeafor and Berry playing technically at Defensive End and not LB, Pace and Dansby are the OLB's, right?

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gruntbygod

At ESPN.com they do. For some reason they have have the Cards listed as a 4-3, and not a 3-4.They were both 4-3 DE's, but will likey be 3-4 OLBs. At 270 Lbs, Berry is way too small to be a 3-4 DE. Dansby is gonna be one of the ILB's

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Professor

oh that makes much more sense

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Serrated Shadow

wow..it never ends..

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