Cardinals Lose Rookie CB vs 49ers

The Arizona Cardinals will be without Max Melton moving forward.

Nov 3, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals cornerback Max Melton (16) against the Chicago Bears at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals will be without rookie cornerback Max Melton for the rest of their Week 18 battle against the San Francisco 49ers due to a wrist injury.

Melton exited action in the first half and was first ruled questionable before the team announced at the beginning of the second half he wouldn't return. He left the contest with three tackles.

Arizona is now down two cornerbacks, as Sean Murphy-Bunting was ejected for fighting earlier in the game.

Melton - the Cardinals' second-round pick - has pieced together an optimistic rookie season, playing in all 16 games for Arizona leading into this week with two starts. He has five passes defensed and one forced fumble to his name as the dust settles on his rookie season.

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon offered some high praise for the Rutgers product earlier this week:

“He's doing what he's supposed to do at a higher clip. As he started out the year, a couple things and sometimes the ball finds you, sometimes it doesn't. To the eye watching TV, all you see is when the ball goes to him, does he make it? I think he's improved his decision making in real time," said Gannon.

"Bang-bang plays, what are you doing? As you fit into the defense, what do you have to get done? I think he's doing a good job of that, and I know he only had the one or two balls that went to him last week, but that was a four-point play that he knocked down one-on-one. He didn't have a lot of help on that particular coverage structure for that route.

"I think (he) just (needs to) keep improving his technique, his decision making and winning one-on-ones when the ball comes to him. What I really appreciate about him, the amount that he played on fourth down with the amount of defensive snaps, there’s not many guys doing that.”

The Cardinals currently lead the 49ers 20-17 in the third quarter.