The Arizona Cardinals will be without one of their defensive starters for at least three weeks. Safety Jalen Thompson, who left the season opener after the second play of the game with an ankle injury, was placed on injured reserve.
Because of new rules about IR in the NFL this year, he is able to come back after a minimum of three weeks and there is no limit to the number of players a team can bring back from injured reserve.
Thompson had one tackle in the opener, getting hurt on the play.
With Thompson now out, fellow second-year safety Deionte Thompson likely will slide into the starting lineup.
The Cardinals also announced the addition of another safety to the roster. They signed safety Curtis Riley off the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad. It was a signing reported earlier in the week.
Riley is in his sixth NFL season.
He has been in the league since 2015 when he entered the league as an undrafted rookie out of Fresno State. He has played for the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and the then Oakland Raiders.
He was a starter in 2018 for the Giants, starting all 16 games. He had 75 tackles and four interceptions. He plays a lot on special teams.
Riley gives them another option off the bench and also special teams depth if the Cardinals decide to use Chris Banjo in the starting lineup instead of Deionte Thompson.
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