Arizona Cardinals WR Hollywood Brown Out with Foot Injury

Posted on: October 20, 2022, 04:49h. 

Last updated on: October 20, 2022, 05:11h.

The Arizona Cardinals have sent wide receiver Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown to the injured reserve list with a left foot injury, and he’s expected to miss six weeks of action. The Cardinals then acquired receiver Robbie Anderson in a trade with the Carolina Panthers to help bolster their wide receiving corps.

The Cardinals (2-4) are -2.5 favorites when they host the New Orleans Saints (2-4) on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 7.

The Cardinals also will welcome back DeAndre Hopkins to the roster this week. Hopkins served a six-game suspension for testing positive for PEDs last season. The timing of Hopkins’ return is clutch, considering Brown is headed to the IR, and their offense struggled.

We’ve still got things we’ve got to be better at,” said quarterback Kyler Murray. “We’ve still got things we need to fix. Obviously, having Hopkins back definitely helps, but we’ve still got to be better in all the areas that we’re not good in right now.”

The Cardinals average 19 points per game this season, and they’re ranked #21 out of 32 teams in total scoring.

The Cardinals started the season 2-2, but then lost their last two games. In their previous three losses, the Cardinals averaged 12.6 points per game.

No Surgery for Hollywood Brown

The Cardinals wanted to reunite Brown with Murray, his close friend and college teammate at Oklahoma. The Cardinals acquired Brown shortly before the 2022 NFL Draft. The Baltimore Ravens traded Brown and a third-round pick to the Cardinals for their first round pick in 2022. The Ravens selected center Tyler Linderbaum from Iowa with their pick.

In six games this season, Brown caught 43 passes for 485 yards and three touchdowns. He posted a season-high 14 receptions and 140 receiving yards in a Week 3 loss against the Los Angeles Rams.

Brown fractured his foot against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6 when cornerback Tariq Woolen fell on top of it during a play in the fourth quarter. He avoided season-ending surgery, but he’s out until December.

Prior to his foot injury, Brown caught touchdowns in two of his previous three games.

Disgruntled Anderson Gets Fresh Start

On Sunday, Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks kicked Anderson out of their road game against the Los Angeles Rams. Anderson wanted to have a bigger role in the offense, but he was essentially benched by wide receivers coach Joe Dailey. Anderson and Dailey continuously argued on the bench, and Wilks had enough and sent Anderson to the locker room.

The Panthers decided to part ways with Anderson by shipping him out. The Cardinals acquired Anderson for a sixth-round pick in 2024 and a 2025 seventh-round pick in 2025.

We had an opportunity to get a guy that brings some speed and that dynamic that Hollywood has,” said head coach King Kingsbury said. “We’ll kind of see where he fits in, and just for the long term, with guys getting hurt, we need some more wideouts in here.”

Anderson began his career with the New York Jets, where he caught 20 touchdowns in 62 games. After four seasons with the Jets, Anderson signed with the Panthers in 2020.

Anderson caught eight touchdowns in 33 games over the previous two seasons with the Panthers. In five games this season, he contributed 13 receptions, 206 yards, and one touchdown.

“Just watching him over the years and studying his tape, Robbie’s got a skill set that seems to be similar (to Brown),” added Kingsbury. “He can really run, which we need that.”

The Anderson trade is the first of numerous mid-season personnel decisions the Panthers are making after firing head coach Matt Rhule. The Panthers are also looking to trade running back Christian McCaffrey before the trade deadline at the end of the month