Cardinals lose veteran wide receiver A.J. Green to knee injury vs. Rams
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver A.J. Green did not return to Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams after suffering a late second quarter knee injury.
Green went up for a catch with the Cardinals in the two-minute offense and had Kyler Murray's pass go off his face mask incomplete. He fell to the ground and grabbed his knee, then slowly walked off the field with a trainer.
After the game, a 20-12 Cardinals loss, head coach Kliff Kingsbury didn't have an update on Green's injury. Asked if injured wide receiver Rondale Moore could be brought back from his hamstring problem sooner than planned, Kingsbury said the team will be "smart" with Moore.
"It's a long season. We found that out last year," Kingsbury said. "We're going to make sure he's 100 percent before we ask him to come back."
Kingsbury feels he has enough weapons at receiver if Green will have to miss time.
"I've got to do a good job of maximizing and putting them in positions to be successful, but I like what we have," Kingsbury said.
Green had two targets without a catch on Sunday and came off the field for some treatment in the first quarter, but went back in. Last Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, he caught the game-tying two-point conversion after regulation time had ended, after being unable to haul a couple of throws his way before that.
Green has been a necessary presence on offense with his experience and the fact that the Cardinals don't have suspended receiver DeAndre Hopkins the in the early part of the season. The Cardinals turned to Andy Isabella as his replacement in the second half Sunday.
Arizona is also without injured wide receiver Antoine Wesley, making it four players at that position that are injured or suspended.
The Cardinals also lost starting left guard Justin Pugh for a few plays in the first half with an elbow injury, but Pugh returned for the second half. He was briefly replaced by Max Garcia.
Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals lose veteran wide receiver A.J. Green to knee injury vs. Rams
