Cardinals place starting right tackle Jonah Williams on injured reserve

Jonah Williams injured his right knee in the first quarter of the Cardinals’ 34-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Williams was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game in the second half. On Tuesday, it was reported that he’ll miss some time with the knee injury, although nothing has been reported about the full extent or the next steps.

In his morning presser with the media, which was also streamed to the team’s YouTube account, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon announced that Williams will go on injured reserve.

“Jonah’s going to go on IR. Not going to speculate the time when he’s going to get back, what that looks like, still gathering more information about that.”

In a follow-up about whether surgery is required, Gannon said he’s not sure about that.

Williams signed a two-year, $30 million free agent contract with Arizona back in March. Now that he’ll be placed on IR, he will be out until at least Week 6, when the Cardinals play the Chargers at State Farm Stadium on October 21. Only eight players can be eligible to return per season, with defensive lineman Darius Robinson and offensive tackle Christian Jones already been listed as two of them on cutdown day. Assuming this isn’t a season-ending injury, he’ll likely be the third player.

In Williams’ absence, backup tackle Kelvin Beachum finished out the game at right tackle. Beachum is an experienced veteran on the offensive line, with 149 career starts at both tackle spots over 12 seasons. He’ll make his first start of 2024 in Week 2 against a good football team the Los Angeles Rams.

“Anyone that goes into the game we feel good about. Yes, there’s a comfort level with Beach, being the vet that he is and how many games he’s played. Who’s ever in there we feel good about getting the job done.

Also joining the list of injuries is rookie cornerback Max Melton, who is currently in the concussion protocol.

In a follow-up roster move, the Cardinals signed edge rusher Julian Okwara to take Williams’ spot on the 53-man roster and tackle Charlie Heck has been signed to the practice squad.