Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon looks on from the sidelines during their game against the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium on Sept 14, 2025. Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cardinals Lose Premier Player Ahead of Texans Matchup

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Dec 10, 2025 12:55 PM ET

TEMPE, AZ -- The Arizona Cardinals won't have premier left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. entering their Week 15 matchup against the Houston Texans, according to head coach Jonathan Gannon.

"Happy Wednesday. Okay, injury front: Paris will not go this week. Everybody else we'll kind of see how the week goes," Gannon said to open his Wednesday press conference.

Johnson reportedly suffered a sprained MCL in Week 14 and is considered week-to-week. Johnson departs Arizona's lineup leading all left tackles in Pro Bowl voting with just four weeks left on the season.

The Cardinals are 3-10 and have lost their last ten-of-eleven games.

"Excited to get back on the grass today. Houston's a good football team, I think on a five-game win streak, best defense in the NFL," Gannon continued.

"CJ Stroud is back. They do a really good job [in] both phases, taking the ball away on defense, not giving it away on offense. Really good fourth down unit. At their place, big time challenge and we're excited about it."

How Cardinals Move Forward

Johnson exited after playing only 35 of 62 offensive snaps on Sunday and did not return. The Cardinals plugged in undrafted rookie Josh Fryar at left tackle, who earned praise from Gannon on his performance.

"He's got the skill set to kind of do different things. Not every guard can go play tackle, not every tackle can go play guard. I mean, Josh can even snap too. So he can really play all five [positions] to me," Gannon said Wednesday.

"But I really been pleased with him since he walked in the building way back in in April. Just how he approaches his job, he's a rookie that's been ascending. I actually thought in the first part of the season he had, in my mind, a couple bad days on the practice field, and we talked to him about it.

"He's really been doing a good job -- and when I say a bad day, he's blocking [Josh] Sweat and things like that. It's like, 'Hey man, you gotta play with better technique. I need to see better from you. That's who you're gonna be blocking on Sundays, so it's got to look better than it looks right now.' and he's done a good job. He took it to heart, and he maximizes himself as a player.

"He puts a lot into it. And he's extremely intelligent, which helps a lot."

The Cardinals are also down starting right tackle Jonah Williams with backup Kelvin Beachum anchoring down the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. Jon Gaines filled in for typical starting left guard Evan Brown, too.

It isn't exactly know when and if Johnson will return in 2025 -- though we know for sure he won't play in Houston.