Winning on Sunday came at a massive cost for the Cardinals. After losing Jalen Brooks for the year and watching Michael Wilson play through broken ribs, the Arizona Cardinals took another severe hit on Monday as wide receiver Kendrick Bourne was ruled out for the season with a leg injury.
During their 30-33 stunning win over the Cowboys, Bourne left the game early using crutches due to a tweaked ankle. Head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed the news, saying the injury is not looking good, as he was also spotted walking in a boot.
Cardinals WR Kendrick Wilson Likely to Miss Season
Bourne missing the entire season is also a very real possibility, but the Cardinals are waiting on final injury reports to make a decision, per AZCardinals’ Darren Urban.
The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones confirmed the injury potentially being season-ending, too, writing, “Cardinals WR Kendrick Bourne is expected to miss the remainder of the season with an ankle injury.”
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the initial injury reports believe that Bourne is most likely done for the season.
“Based on initial testing results, Cardinals wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (ankle) is set to miss the rest of the season, sources tell CBS Sports,” Zenitz wrote. “Was the fear, and he is in fact set to miss the rest of the year. Had ranked second among Arizona wide receivers with 26 catches and had three games this season with 5+ catches.”
Still, only the organization can confirm the news.
WR Michael Wilson Also Injured
To make matters worse, Cardinals receiver Michael Wilson revealed after the game that he suffered two broken ribs on Sunday, per ESPN’s Theo Mackie and Josh Weinfuss.
After catching a pass from quarterback Gardner Minshew in the end zone with six seconds remaining on the game clock, Wilson was unable to get up right away, as he was in visible pain.
Wilson later confirmed that in Week 9, he’ll play at even “60%” strength.
“This organization’s paying me a lot of money,” he said. “So if I can muster up the strength to go play, even at 60 percent, I’m going to.”
“I’m ecstatic that we won, but physically, not too good,” Wilson added. “… Pain is temporary, glory is forever. I’ll take the rib pain for a win for the Arizona Cardinals.”
“When stuff is s–tty, that’s when you can really find out who you are as a person, who you are as a man, but also about your teammates,” Wilson said. “I could not be more proud to be an Arizona Cardinal under a team led by Mike LaFleur.”
The question now is whether Wilson will be able to play again next week. It becomes more important for Wilson to return, especially since Bourne will most likely stay out for multiple weeks, if he somehow dodges a season-ending injury.
After making the game-tying catch, Wilson appeared to be in some pain as he walked to the bench, but perhaps he’ll be able to recover fully over the next week.
The Cardinals have had a rough season for the most part, but have managed to pick up a few quality wins. They likely aren’t expecting to make a playoff run, but they could still end up having a respectable season.
Cardinals Likely to Lose $12M Offensive Starter to Season-Ending Injury