Arizona Cardinals linebacker and special teams captain Dennis Gardeck will have surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ACL, he said in a post to his instagram account on Monday night.
Gardeck was placed on injured reserve by the Cardinals after injuring his knee in the team’s Week 16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I appreciate all the well wishes, your support doesn’t go unnoticed! The road to recovery begins tomorrow with ACL reconstruction. I’ll be back and better than ever in 2021, believe it!” Gardeck wrote.
The exact nature of Gardeck’s injury wasn’t relayed by head coach Kliff Kingsbury after he was placed on injured reserve.
In addition to being a special teams standout, Gardeck got more playing time on defense this season and responded with seven sacks for the Cardinals. He accomplished that despite only appearing on double-digit defensive snaps just four times all year, per Pro-Football-Reference. When he got his chances, he delivered. He played a season-high 25 snaps against the Eagles and had two sacks before leaving the game.
Gardeck was one of 10 players to receive an All-Pro vote for special teams contributions.