It’s safe to say that the former Cardinal have had their fair share of the injury bug thus far in 2020.
Superstar Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey ’18 is out for multiple weeks with a high-ankle sprain. San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman ’10 also is missing time with a high-ankle sprain of his own, and his teammate, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas ’18, is out for the year after suffering a torn ACL last week. Houston Texans linebacker and special teams contributor Peter Kalambayi ’17 is still recovering from a hamstring injury, and New Orleans Saints cornerback Johnson Bademosi ’12 remains on the injured reserve.
This weekend, two more names were added to that list. On Saturday, New Orleans Saints running back Ty Montgomery ’15 was placed on the injured reserve with hamstring injury. In the same game, his teammate, guard Andrus Peat ’16, a Pro Bowler each of the past two years, was carted off the field late in the second quarter of the Saints’ 37-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. The initial diagnosis for Peat was a high-ankle injury, but he is currently undergoing further testing.
However, one former Cardinal returned to the field this Sunday. Five-time Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro ’12 made his season debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers and helped his team to a 28-21 win against the Texans to start the season 3-0. Elsewhere in the league along the offensive line, former Cardinal Nate Herbig ’20 of the Philadelphia Eagles was moved to left guard in his team’s tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Although injuries continue to plague the former Cardinal cohort, the tight end position continues to be a bright spot. Zach Ertz ’13 of the Philadelphia Eagles recorded seven receptions for 70 yards, Austin Hooper ’17 of the Cleveland Browns had three receptions for 25 yards, Kaden Smith ’20 of the New York Giants picked up a reception for 13 yards and, after a breakout performance last week, Dalton Schultz ’18 of the Dallas Cowboys chipped in four receptions for 48 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, multiple former Cardinal linebackers contributed this weekend. Bobby Okereke ’18 recorded 4 tackles for the Indianapolis Colts, James Vaughters ’15 had two tackles for the Chicago Bears, Brennan Scarlett ’15 made three tackles for the Houston Texans and Blake Martinez ’16 put in another excellent performance for the New York Giants, with nine tackles, a stuff and a sack.
Other notable defensive performances came from Texans safety Justin Reid ’18, who collected six tackles, and from defensive linemen Henry Anderson ’15 and Trent Murphy ’14, who each recorded two tackles for the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, respectively.
Contact Jibriel Taha at jtaha “at” stanford.edu.