Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson suffered a rib injury at the end of their Week 9 win over the Dallas Cowboys. He would not return the rest of the season.
At the time, it was just described as a rib injury.
It was more than that.
Wilson revealed more details to AZCardinals.com’s Darren Urban. He had a “rib fracture, punctured lung, was in the hospital for three days, tube in my chest.”
After he left the hospital, he had to sleep upright for three weeks, he said. While he was having to sleep upright, he was trying to get back on the field. He tried to return in two weeks to play in Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers. The team shut him down for the rest of the year.
Wilson said that the injury had him “in a dark place.”
It is another case of the Cardinals being less than forthcoming with injury information. When the team shut him down and placed him on injured reserve, it could have been announced that he would miss the rest of the season so fans would know he wouldn’t be back.
It is one thing if Wilson didn’t want the information coming out, but he ended up telling it anyway. Information and transparency is something fans appreciate. That shroud of secrecy didn’t help them win games. They didn’t win again the rest of the season. All it does is generate a feeling of distrust with the information coming out, and for what reason?
But Wilson is back and entering the final year of his contract. He has been visible all offseason and has really embraced the leadership role he was given starting last year.
We will see what is coming for the veteran.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Mack Wilson’s injury was more serious than Arizona Cardinals let on