National Football League

Arizona holding breath after losing another starting QB to knee injury

Published Dec. 11, 2014 10:26 p.m. ET

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UPDATE (11:55 p.m. ET): Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told the media in St. Louis after Thursday night's game of backup-turned-starting-QB Drew Stanton:

"We know he has a knee injury."

The coach would only go on to say that Stanton has a history of knee injuries, and that he will be getting an MRI exam.

Coincidentally, this is the second time this season the Cardinals lost a starting quarterback to injury vs. the Rams; Carson Palmer suffered a season-ending torn ACL on a non-contact injury in early November, an injury which opened the door for Stanton to take over as starter.

The Cardinals are now 5-3 in games Stanton has started this season after Thursday's 12-6 win over the Rams.

UPDATE (10:52 p.m. ET): The Arizona Cardinals announced early in the fourth quarter that Drew Stanton will not return to Thursday night's game.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton hobbled off the Edward Jones Stadium turf in the third quarter during Thursday night's game against the St. Louis Rams, and was taken to the locker room on the back of a cart.

Cardinals' athletic trainers appeared to be looking at Stanton's right leg on the sideline before carting him off, the team minutes later declaring Stanton questionable to return with a right knee injury.

Stanton was injured on a second-and-13 play as Rams defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Eugene Sims dragged him down for a sack. Stanton was slow to get up and immediately looked to be in pain.

The Cardinals replaced Stanton with Ryan Lindley, who completed a six-yard pass to Michael Floyd on his first play, setting up a 51-yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro for a 9-3 lead. Lindley made his first appearance since 2012 when he started four games for Arizona.

Stanton, in his eighth season, is 4-3 as a starter in place of Carson Palmer, who missed three games early in the season with a shoulder injury then tore his ACL against the Rams on Nov. 9.

The Cardinals entered the game with a 10-3 record and holding the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff race. But the Seahawks sit just one game behind the Cardinals in the NFC West.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report