Arizona Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson didn't leave Sunday's 31-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints with all of his fingers intact. According to ESPN, Johnson said on Monday that he lost the tip of his middle finger on his left hand just above the knuckle during Sunday's game.
Johnson said he realized the extent of his injury after he pulled his hand out of his glove and the tip of his middle finger was still in the glove. ESPN reports that Johnson underwent surgery Sunday night to shave down the bone in his finger to stave off an infection, but he had no plans to get the tip surgically reattached.
The injury may take a few weeks to heal, but Cardinals (1-2) head coach Bruce Arians said that Johnson might return to the team Sunday when it takes on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3).
"It's day to day," Arians said Monday per ESPN. "It's just a matter of pain tolerance."
Johnson was asked about the injury on Twitter by a producer for The Dan Patrick Show, and had this response:
Johnson is unsure how exactly the injury occurred but he believes it happened just before halftime when he was defending during a punt return by the Saints' Darren Sproles. Johnson plans on watching some film to try and get a better grasp on how exactly the injury occurred. According to ESPN, Johnson realized he had a pretty severe injury after he saw blood coming from out of his glove.
Johnson had three tackles for the Cardinals in the loss, and has 13 tackles on the season so far. Johnson is in his fifth year with Arizona and has appeared in 60 games, netting three interceptions, one touchdown and 98 tackles.
While the injury was very severe and Johnson described it as "the most painful injury he ever felt" on Twitter, the team and Johnson are hopeful that he'll make a smooth recovery and return quickly.
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