Evan Mathis Injury: Updates on Cardinals Guard's Recovery from Ankle Surgery

Arizona Cardinals guard Evan Mathis suffered an ankle injury against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5 after previously dealing with foot and toe issues this season. He has been placed on the injured reserve list and will undergo surgery. It is uncertain when he will return to action.

Continue for updates.

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Mathis to Undergo Surgery

Monday, Oct. 10

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians told reporters Mathis will go under the knife, adding he doesn't expect the lineman to return in six weeks.

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Mathis Placed on Injured Reserve

Saturday, Oct. 8

On Saturday, Darren Urban of the team's official website reported the Cardinals placed Mathis on the IR list, adding that the 34-year-old will likely be sidelined for the remainder of the season.

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Injury Could Be End of Mathis' Career

"I'm only going to play if someone lets me be a third-down pass-rusher," Mathis told ESPN's Adam Caplan on Sunday when asked about the possibility of playing next season.

Mathis is in his first year with the Cardinals after spending 11 seasons with five different franchises. In 2015, he played for the Denver Broncos and started 12 games for the Super Bowl champions.

Mathis gave the Cardinals a veteran presence to plug into their offensive line this year. He played at right guard, which put him next to second-year right tackle D.J. Humphries, who made his first appearance in an NFL regular-season game in Week 1.

Humphries has started all five games, while Mathis missed a Week 3 loss to the Buffalo Bills. With left guard Mike Iupati also dealing with an ankle injury, Arizona has had pass-protection issues this season, allowing 13 sacks. Only the Indianapolis Colts have given up more.

According to Urban, the team signed Ulrick John from the Miami Dolphins practice squad to fill the empty roster spot. Also, Earl Watford is likely to step into the right guard position in Mathis' absence. The third-year man out of James Madison has started just four games in his career, though, giving opposing defenses a clear target when they play Arizona.

Making matters worse, the Cardinals' next five games come against teams that can get after the quarterback, though not every team's defense ranks in the top half of the league.

If the offensive line, specifically the right side, can't hold up without Mathis, the Cardinals offense is in trouble.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.