Arizona Cardinals News: Michael Ray Garvin Injures Knee, Possibly Out for Season

The Arizona Cardinals injury situation took another hit today when they learned that return specialist Michael Ray Garvin tore a meniscus in his left knee and will need surgery to have it repaired. It's unknown whether this will send him to the injured reserve ending his season but either way it kills his shot at making the roster. Garvin was the star of the Cardinals preseason opener, averaging 30 yards per kick return and 10 yards per punt return, but he was still a long shot to make the final 53 and missing an extended amount of time seals his fate. Anquan Boldin had a similar injury in 2004 during camp and missed the first five games of the season.

Garvin, a corner back in college, is a world class sprinter who was vying for a job as a return specialist while also learning to play wide receiver. The former Seminole was undrafted but his speed and big play ability on kick returns made him an instant favorite among some Cardinals fans.

The kick returner job would now appear to be wide open again with Steve Breaston manning the top spot right now. Others in the mix include LaRod Stephens-Howling and possibly even Chris Wells, although Breaston and Garvin were the only ones to return any kicks against the Steelers.

Update: Darren Urban is now reporting that Garvin's injury is not as serious as orginally thought. Whiz spoke during his lunch time presser and said that Garvin's knee would need just arthriscopic surgery and even said that it could be just a week or two before Garvin is back on the field. While that is certainly some good news, it still means that MRG will miss at least this Saturday's game and most likely the following week's game against the Packers. That's an awful lot of time for an undrafted rookie to miss but with any luck he still might be in the mix for a spot on the practice squad.

Whiz also mentioned LSH getting a chance on kickoffs and even Sean Morey possibly entering the mix. Don't Morey's skills just scream blazing speed and top flight kick returner?