Source: Cards LB Ojulari tears ACL, out for season

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Second-year Arizona Cardinals linebacker BJ Ojulari suffered a torn ACL in Friday’s practice, a source told ESPN, confirming a report.

Coach Jonathan Gannon announced Saturday that Ojulari will miss the rest of the season and will have surgery.

“Obviously, feel bad for him, for the team,” Gannon said. “He did a lot of work this offseason, was going to be a big part of what we do, but he’ll come back stronger, ready to go better than ever next year.”

Ojulari suffered the injury in Friday’s training camp practice and had to be helped off the field with the assistance of two staff members. Gannon said Ojulari planted and then suffered the injury on “kind of just a normal football move for an edge guy.”

Ojulari, who was a second-round pick in 2023, had recently started getting reps with the first-team defense and was trending toward winning one of the Cardinals’ starting outside linebacker spots. NFL Network first reported Ojulari’s injury.

Gannon said the Cardinals will figure out what to do next at Ojulari’s outside linebacker position. Last season, Dennis Gardeck started eight of 17 games while Victor Dimukeje started six, Cam Thomas started three and Jesse Luketa started one. All three are currently on the roster, along with the likes of rookie Darius Robinson, who has been playing inside and outside, and rookie Xavier Thomas, who Gannon said has been doing a “good job.”

“All things are on the table,” Gannon said. “We got plenty of guys on the defense that need to step up and play.”

On Friday, before the practice in which Ojulari suffered his injury, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis praised Ojulari’s performance during camp.

“He has a complete skill set to play within what we do,” Rallis said. “Believe it or not, very good space player and coverage player. Didn’t have to necessarily do it a lot in college and when he got here, you could see it right away that just his athleticism takes over, but it’s natural to him, as well.

“So, I love that part of his game and then he’s been setting some really good edges. I’m always on him challenging to play lower than the opponent, and when he does that, I really like what I see in the run and the pass games. So, he’s doing a good job of being that complete player.”

Injuries have plagued Ojulari since he was drafted. Before he dealt with a hamstring injury last spring, Ojulari had a procedure on his knee between the combine and the draft, coach Jonathan Gannon said last July. He started last training camp on PUP but was off by the first week of August.