Ojulari will play his first game since January 2024, coming back from two knee surgeries.
Sunday will be the 2025 debut for Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker BJ Ojulari. Among the roster moves the Cardinals made on Saturday ahead of their Sunday game in Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers, Ojulari was activated from the PUP (physically unable to perform) reserve.
His return is timely, too, as Baron Browning will miss Sunday’s game with a concussion and Josh Sweat has a knee injury, although Sweat’s injury doesn’t impact whether he will play or not.
Ojulari has been out since August of 2024, when he suffered a torn ACL in training camp. He also tore his MCL and lateral meniscus, and then, this past summer, also had surgery to repair a subluxation of the kneecap that became a problem during rehab and was something dating back to his college days at LSU.
He did not practice all offseason or in training camp, and he had his practice window opened up almost three weeks ago.
Now the hope is he can make an impact. Going into 2024, he was expected to be their top pass rusher after a promising rookie season in 2023 in which he had four sacks, five tackles for loss and six quarterback hits in limited playing time. However, the ACL tear torpedoed any hopes for a big year. He has not played in an NFL game since January of 2024.
Ojulari was the Cardinals’ second-round pick in 2023. He will get action on Sunday when the Cardinals face the 49ers. Kickoff from State Farm Stadium is at 4:05 p.m. ET (2:05 p.m. Arizona time).
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