Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Dennis Gardeck said he would undergo ACL surgery on Tuesday, clarifying the injury that knocked him out of a Week 15 win against the Philadelphia Eagles and ended his season.
And what a season it was for the third-year pro and first-year special teams captain.
Gardeck, who went undrafted in 2018 out of Sioux Falls, played his first career snaps on the defensive side of the ball in Week 5 after Arizona lost All-Pro linebacker Chandler Jones to a torn biceps.
Gardeck recorded two sacks in 10 defensive snaps, and his efficiency didn’t wane much from there. He closed the season second on the Cardinals with 7.0 sacks in 94 defensive snaps, adding 16 total tackles, seven tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits.
“I appreciate all the well wishes, your support doesn’t go unnoticed!” he wrote Monday night on his Instagram post. “The road to recovery begins tomorrow with ACL reconstruction. I’ll be back and better than ever in 2021, believe it!”
How quickly Gardeck is able to recover from surgery to fix a torn ACL, of course, could put some or even most of his 2021 season in jeopardy.
He enters restricted free agency this offseason injured but with a strong case for Arizona to find a way to bring him back — even considering his knee injury.
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