Cardinals Officially Add Starter Back From Injury

The Arizona Cardinals have activated their starting right tackle.

Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Jonah Williams (73) during organized team activities in Tempe on May 20, 2024. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals are officially placing right tackle Jonah Williams back on the active roster today.

The move, made official by the team, was confirmed by head coach Jonathan Gannon this morning when he met with reporters.

Williams' 21 day window to return from injured reserve expired today, so the Cardinals had to decide to either elevate him to the active roster or place him back on injured reserve, which would have caused him to miss the remainder of the season.

Williams has practiced the last few weeks for Arizona despite not playing, so it was a fairly easy choice for the Cardinals, who are 6-4 and lead the NFC West.

After signing with Arizona on a two-year, $30 million deal in free agency, the Cardinals saw Williams play just one quarter of football before he suffered a major knee injury in Week 1. Williams was replaced by Kelvin Beachum, who has admittedly played fairly well since Week 2 and beyond when healthy.

With the Cardinals' offensive line playing so well at the moment, Gannon understands a tough decision is ahead of deciding if Williams or Beachum will get the nod this week as the Seattle Seahawks await.

"Beach has played extremely well, he really has. And he did that last year for us too. The veteran leadership, he's a guy that could be a captain. I use his brain a lot with different things, I ask him a lot of different things. He's been all in since we've been here. He's been fantastic and he's played extremely well so, very glad we have him," Gannon said.

"We kind of weigh all the variables and then decide what we think is best for the team for that game. We'll take it day by day but the good thing is I think a lot of different guys have played a lot of different spots and they've played with each other quite a bit. We just got to make sure the communication's on point, the operation's on point and we keep playing at a high level. The offensive line is playing extremely well."

It's unknown exactly who will start at right tackle on Sunday, though quarterback Kyler Murray previously said he'd be stoked whenever Williams is healthy enough to go.

“I just remember being super protected the first game. I don't think I had a hurry. I didn't really feel the right side that first game. That was the only time I played with him. I understand he's rehabbing to come get back, but whenever he comes back. I definitely will be happy."