Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was held out of Friday night’s preseason game with a minor knee injury.
After the game, head coach Bruce Arians (who had his own minor health scare this week) told reporters it was a “slight MCL strain” that kept the 32-year-old receiver out of the game, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
#AZCardinals coach Bruce Arians told reporters last night WR Larry Fitzgerald has a slight MCL sprain. He ran pre and post. Nothing serious
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 20, 2016
Because Fitzgerald ran before and after the game, we can assume this really is nothing to be too concerned about.
https://twitter.com/Mathieu_Era/status/767045461601464320
Still, when you’re talking about a receiver who means as much to his team as Fitzgerald does, and a receiver who has played in 186 career games, it’s clearly something to monitor in the coming weeks.
Arizona had no reason whatsoever to tempt fate by throwing the veteran into a meaningless preseason game. He already has plenty of chemistry with quarterback Carson Palmer and doesn’t need any preseason reps to get ready for the regular season.
That being said, if his knee is in good shape next week, we should expect Fitzgerald to play at least a few series with the first-team offense. Week 3 is the regular-season tune up for NFL teams. Starters typically play the entire first half, if not a full three quarters during this game.
Then they typically sit out the final preseason game or barely play so that players on the roster bubble get as much time in the games as possible to give coaches the best chance to evaluate them.
If Fitzgerald is kept out next week, then fantasy football owners would be smart to keep their eyes on health updates heading into the regular-season opener when the Cardinals host the New England Patriots on Sunday, Sept. 11.