The Arizona Cardinals may be without two key players as the team travels to Cleveland this week to face the Browns, with center Rodney Hudson out and pass-rusher Chandler Jones not expected to play, head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters Wednesday.
Hudson left the Cardinals’ Week 5 game against the San Francisco 49ers in the third quarter with a rib injury. The veteran was a big offseason addition for general manager Steve Keim and has already showed his importance during the Cardinals’ 5-0 start to the season.
Arizona traded its 2021 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders and received a seventh-round selection in a deal to acquire Hudson.
The Cardinals will now rely on Max Garcia at the center position, who filled in for Hudson against San Francisco. The 29-year-old is in his third season with the Cardinals and has been in the league since 2015.
In five games, Garcia has played 142 snaps lined up at right guard and center, good for 42% of Cardinals’ offensive plays.
Jones landed on the COVID-19 reserve list on Tuesday. He has five sacks on the season, all of which coming in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans.
“It’s just the way it goes,” Kingsbury said Wednesday. “We’ve been fully vaccinated now for awhile and it’s unfortunate, particularly for Chandler, who was playing at a high level. Hopefully he can get well rested and get back by next week’s game, so we’ll see how that plays out.
“I hope [Jones can play this week], but how I’ve seen it go so far, I think that would be a stretch,” the head coach added.
With the absence of Jones, the Cardinals will rely on outside backers Markus Golden, Devon Kennard and Dennis Gardeck.