Walter Nolen: Everything you need to know

Nolen successfully underwent surgery on his left knee Tuesday, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports. Nolen suffered a season-ending knee injury during the Cardinals' Week 16 loss to the Falcons. The extent and severity of his injury is not clear, but he could be facing a recovery timeline that would put him jeopardy of missing the start of the 2026 campaign. The rookie first-rounder logged 11 tackles (eight solo), including 2.0 sacks, two pass defenses and a fumble recovery for a touchdown across six regular-season games.

The Cardinals placed Nolen (knee) on injured reserve Tuesday. Nolen suffered a noncontact left knee injury during Sunday's loss to the Falcons and had to be carted off the field. The exact nature of his injury isn't yet clear, but Nolen will miss the final two games of the season. This comes after Nolen missed the first seven games of his rookie campaign dealing with a significant calf injury. Through six games as a rookie, Nolen racked up 11 tackles (eight solo), including 2.0 sacks, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery across 169 defensive snaps.

Nolen (knee) has been ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's game against the Falcons, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports. Nolen had to be carted off the field with a non-contact injury to his left knee. The 2025 first-rounder missed Week 13 and Week 14 with a prior knee injury, a fact that may provide more clarity towards what happened on the field Sunday.