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| Rashad johnson finger |
Johnson underwent surgery Sunday night and now has to carefully monitor the finger for infection.Somers alleges that the injury took place during a punt return in the second quarter as the Alabama product attempted to tackle Darren Sproles. There is a possibility that Johnson smashed it into the turf, but it’s currently uncertain if that is what actually caused the top of the finger to be removed.
Johnson initially stayed in the game despite suffering the injury, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com.
Doctors needed to shave the bone on the safety’s hand and then repair it, which Somers says caused him to lose everything down to the first knuckle.
Johnson responded to Paul Pabst of The Dan Patrick Show on Twitter Monday morning discussing the injury.He also responded to a Twitter user requesting the Cardinals safety post a picture of his injury.
It’s unknown when Johnson is set to return, but hopefully the team can get him back on the field sooner than later. He’s one of three defensive starters who were injured Sunday, a list that also includes outside linebackers Lorenzo Alexander and Sam Acho, per the Associated Press via the Miami Herald.
As soon as the news broke, NFL fans worldwide immediately thought of Hall of Famer and San Francisco 49ers legend Ronnie Lott, who infamously suffered a similar injury. Lott once spoke in detail about the situation.
Tim Newsome, who was the fullback at the time for the Cowboys ... I was just going to try and bring him down. And before I could get my hands out, his helmet ran into my pinky and rammed it into my chest. And the tip of my finger, as my buddy said, "exploded" and I lost the front of it and fractured the tip fairly bad.
And the story goes that I cut it off right in the middle of the locker room—which I didn't. But I did get ready for the following week. I wanted to sacrifice to succeed.
Johnny Miller of SFGate.com chronicled Lott's now legendary story:
...doctors looked at the badly damaged finger on Ronnie Lott's left hand and gave him two choices. They could operate, graft a bone from the wrist, insert a pin and have him wear a cast for the next eight weeks. Or they could amputate just above the first joint. Lott made what coaches like to call "the football decision." He told them to cut off the end of his finger. It was a simple procedure. He held out his hand, they numbed it and snipped off the finger tip and put his hand in a cast.
Johnson is listed as the starting free safety on the team's official depth chart, though the third-round pick in the 2009 draft is generally viewed as a key special teams performer, according to the team. Johnson's special-teams abilities allowed him to cash in on a three-year contract worth $4.8 million last March, according to Rotoworld, which included a $1 million signing bonus and $400,000 available through incentives.
Arizona definitely could have used Johnson back in the game after he exited prior to the half, as Saints signal-caller Drew Brees eviscerated the depleted secondary. The veteran completed 29 of 46 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns with just one interception.
As long as Johnson is out, expect head coach Bruce Arians to utilize Tony Jefferson and Tyrann Mathieu as replacement free safeties.
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