TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck is out for the rest of the regular season and will be placed on injured reserve with a knee injury, coach Kliff Kingsbury said Thursday.
Gardeck had a surprise emergence as one of Arizona's biggest playmakers on defense and is second on the team with seven sacks. The undrafted 26-year-old was a special-teams ace during his first two seasons and hadn't played a defensive snap in the NFL until 2019 All-Pro Chandler Jones was lost for the year because of a biceps injury in October.
"He's such a tough guy, we were exploring every option to try and get him out there," Kingsbury said. "But it doesn't appear like it's going to work out, so he'll be put on IR for the remainder of the season."
Gardeck's seven sacks have come in 89 total defensive snaps this season -- or one every 12.7 snaps. He had two sacks in his first NFL game, in which he played only nine snaps. He also had two sacks in the last two games.
Gardeck was hurt in Sunday's 33-26 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. He had two sacks in the game before the injury.
The Cardinals (8-6) host the San Francisco 49ers (5-9) on Saturday and are trying to clinch their first playoff berth since 2015.
ESPN's Josh Weinfuss and The Associated Press contributed to this report.