The Cardinals got a win over the Rams on Sunday, but it looks like their promising rookie safety has seen his season come to a premature end.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said after the team’s 30-10 victory that safety Tyrann Mathieu “appears” to have torn the ACL in his left knee during the game. It’s a bad blow for a team still trying to fight their way into a Wild Card spot, an effort that suffered another blow on Sunday when the 49ers beat the Seahawks.
Mathieu was injured while returning a free kick that followed a Cardinals safety in the third quarter of the game. Mathieu tried to leave the field under his own power, but he wasn’t able to make it to the sideline and wound up needing a cart to help him to the back.
He’ll presumably have an MRI on Monday so doctors can confirm their suspicions, but Mathieu isn’t waiting to start coping with the bad news. Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reports that one of the other Cardinals said Mathieu was bawling in the locker room after getting the initial diagnosis from doctors.