Cardinals place RB Chris Johnson on IR; sign Kerwynn Williams

Injuries have begun to pile up for the Arizona Cardinals as they have placed running back Chris Johnson on injured reserve.

We have yet another running back to the IR in the NFL with the Cardinals losing running back Chris Johnson to a groin injury. The move means that Johnson will be out for a minimum of eight weeks. The earliest he could return would be December 4 against the Washington Redskins:

Johnson’s injury was non-contact and occurred on a fourth quarter run in Sunday’s game.

In a corresponding move, the Cardinals signed former running back Kerwynn Williams, who played for the Cardinals in 2014  and 2015 before being released at the end of this past preseason.

The silver lining of the injury is the fact that it wasn’t the other Johnson running back, David Johnson. Backing him up will now be Andre Ellington, Stepfan Taylor and the recently signed Williams. Although the three backups don’t have the track record that Chris Johnson does, Arizona should be just fine.

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (concussion) will likely miss Thursday’s game against the 49ers as well, which makes the Arizona run game all the more important. If Palmer were to miss the game, backup Drew Stanton would start in his place. Luckily, the Cardinals will be facing the league’s worst run defense in San Francisco. David Johnson has been one of the NFL’s best running backs through four weeks, posting an average of 4.7 yards per carry. He should feast against the 49ers.

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The Cardinals have also placed safety Tyvon Branch on the IR after suffering a groin injury of his own. Only one player can be designated for return from the IR, and that decision can’t be made for another six weeks. Either Branch or Johnson won’t see the field for the rest of the season.

The team can ill afford any more injuries to top players given its disappointing 1-3 start to the season.