by Michael Collins
Rant Sports NFL Network Manager

4 Rants

Mark J. Rebilas - US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Cardinals tackle Levi Brown injured his triceps against the Oakland Raiders in Friday night’s preseason match-up, and some reports are saying that he could be lost for the entire season.

If Brown is lost for any significant amount of time he will be extremely difficult to replace, and the Cardinals may have to look outside the organization to find a player to fill the spot. The problem there is, left tackle is a position that several teams around the league are lacking depth in, and are looking for talent

Brown has started every game for the Cardinals over the past four seasons, and is considered to be one of the key components in improving the offensive line.

In the game, Brown was replaced by D.J. Young, a player who was on the Cardinals’ practice squad last year.  Outside of Young, there are other long-term options for Arizona, but possibly still not the most desirable ones.

Jeremy Bridges and D’Anthony Batiste can play left tackle, and they have a rookie, Nate Potter, available on the third team, but that’s as far as their depth chart runs.

The problem becomes not only will Brown be able to return this season, but if at all.  The last two Arizona players to suffer triceps injuries – Chike Okeafor and Bertrand Berry – both were lost for the season, and saw a significant reduction in their numbers upon their return.

Given the unstable situation at quarterback for the Cardinals, the last thing head coach Ken Whisenhunt needed to worry about was finding a new left tackle to protect either of his potential starters.

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