Arizona Cardinals rookie guard Isaiah Adams was looking forward to gaining more experience in Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
Unfortunately, his back failed to cooperate, as he got hurt before the game and after inactive were already announced.
Adams had been in a job-share with Trystan Colon at right guard since Will Hernandez suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 5 against the 49ers, a game in which Adams was inactive because of a thumb injury.
In Weeks 6-9, he played a total of 86 snaps with 40 percent against the Packers, 35 against the Chargers, 39 against the Dolphins and 29 against the Bears. In the Green Bay game, he also played snaps at left guard when Evan Brown suffered a knee injury and missed 18 snaps.
After the third play of the game against the Jets, it was reported that Adams was injured and that his return was questionable. It was strange to use the word “return” because he hadn’t played in the game and it turned out he wasn’t even dressed.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon explained Monday that when Adams was “coming out of the tunnel (for pregame warmups) his back locked up. It was kind of a weird deal that can happen. You get out of bed and kind of wrench your back, and you can’t walk. That’s kind of what happened, so it was a bad deal. He was down because he didn’t put his pads on because he couldn’t get moving well enough.”
Colon played all 59 offensive snaps in the game and Adams didn’t play, although Gannon said, “He actually got moving well enough to put his pads on, came out at halftime. I talked to him in the middle of the fourth quarter and he was down. He wanted to play, and you see that kind of frustration, disappointment and sadness in his face. You feel for the guy because he had a really good week (of practice).
“I thought Trystan played well too, but he’ll be out there (after the bye) ready to go. Honestly, just kind of a weird accident.”
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
