Arizona Cardinals cornerback Robert Alford suffered an untimely injury in preseason camp this week and has the team scrambling to find help in an already-depleted secondary.
The veteran cornerback, who was signed to a 3-year, $22.5 million, contract by Arizona during the offseason, is expected to miss nearly two months with a fractured tibia. The injury reportedly happened during a full-contact practice at Cardinals camp in Glendale on Tuesday.
Alford was expected to be one of Arizona’s two starting cornerbacks going into the season alongside Patrick Peterson. The 30-year-old cornerback has never been a superstar, but he has ample NFL experience with the Atlanta Falcons and was expected to be the perfect complement to Peterson as the team’s second CB.
However, with Peterson out for the first six games of the season after a PED suspension and now Alford’s injury, the team finds itself critically short at a key position heading into the season.
The injury to Alford and Peterson’s suspension means that Arizona, coming off of a 2018 season in which they had the NFL’s worst record, will be forced to turn to rookie cornerbacks Byron Murphy and Tramaine Brock as the season opens.
Nothing has been easy for the Cardinals lately, and Alford’s unfortunate injury is just another example of the team’s hard luck.
