GLENDALE, Ariz. -- First, it was linebacker Josh Sweat with an ankle injury.
Second, it was cornerback Garrett Williams with an Achilles injury.
And then it was rookie defensive lineman Walter Nolen III with a knee injury.
But, wait, there's more. Those were just the three Cardinals whose injuries were serious enough to end their afternoons early on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. Center Hjalte Froholdt suffered a left elbow injury that took him out of the game for a bit only to see him return with the elbow heavily wrapped. And safeties Budda Baker and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson left the game to be evaluated for concussions but eventually returned.
Sunday encapsulated one reason why the Cardinals are 3-12 and have lost 11 of their past 12 games: They have been among the teams hardest hit by the injury bug. With Nolen and Williams heading to injured reserve, it was announced Monday, the Cardinals have 22 players on injured reserve, and coming out of Sunday's 26-19 loss to the Falcons, the Cardinals have used a league-high 80 players this season.
"That's a lot of guys," coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday.
On Sunday, Gannon said Arizona has "had a lot of attrition," and admitted that "it's hard."
Since running back James Conner went down in Week 3, Arizona has been dealing with a cascade of injuries, and they haven't discriminated -- starters, backups, third string, fourth string, rookies, veterans. Even the punter, Blake Gillikin, is on injured reserve. Last week, Gannon said the team's health and how it's handled will be something he'll reevaluate in the offseason.
"They know it's part of the game," Gannon said. "Yes, we've had more this year than since we've been here. That's a fact. But you got to step in and assume roles and play good football."
Three Week 1 offensive starters are on injured reserve, followed by almost complete depth charts at receiver and running back and two of four of Arizona's top tight ends. When the Cardinals took the field Sunday against the Falcons, only four offensive starters from Arizona's first snap of Week 1 remained.
The Cardinals' defense has been, generally, spared from losing players for the whole season. Starling Thomas V, who was a starting cornerback last season, was lost for the season to an ACL injury during training camp, and safety Joey Blount was put on IR after suffering a neck injury in Week 1. The biggest defensive name on injured reserve is linebacker Mack Wilson Sr., and he's joined by rotational linemen L.J. Collier and Bilal Nichols.
Having so many players go down has taken its toll on the rest of the roster. It's, linebacker Zaven Collins said, "hard to deal with. It's hard to watch."
"It's tough because we already are down guys, so it's tough to see the guys that you know put in the work with go down," quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. "It's very unfortunate and you can't prevent it. That's the sorry part about it, but you see the amount of respect when one of our guys goes down and you see everybody on the team going up to those guys -- however today happened. You see the love that we have for each other, and you try to pick up the play and try to build a little bit more because you know that person that went down wishes they were out there."
During Sunday's game, a young player asked veteran offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum what he thought about all the injuries.
He answered as an older player would: "It's a war of attrition. It's the National Football League. It's part of it."
Any time a player is lost to injury a team must reshuffle its lineup. And the Cardinals have had to do that weekly, changing the team's dynamic significantly from Week 1 to this week, but also from week to week, especially on offense.
They're down their starting quarterback, top three running backs, three of their top five receivers, two of their top four tight ends, and two offensive linemen who have started this season.
That has led to Arizona not being able to do certain things with the current roster that it might have been able to do with the Week 1 lineup, Beachum said.
"It's difficult because guys are getting put in roles that maybe they wouldn't have been in prior to the season or after camp, but you got to be adaptable and adjustable," wide receiver Michael Wilson said. "I can speak from our receiver coach because I'm with him every day, but I think he's done a phenomenal, phenomenal job of staying positive.
"Last week we were playing with three receivers, two guys that were on the practice squad for a lot of the year and myself, and we're still able to function and compete at a high level. And so it's tough, but I think [Gannon] and [general manager] Monti [Ossenfort] do a great job of bringing guys in the building that can be flexible and adaptable."
During a meeting Saturday night, the Cardinals talked about taking advantage of opportunities when they arise, Brissett said. Then it came to fruition Sunday when Froholdt went down and Jon Gaines II slid from guard to center and rookie Hayden Conner entered the game at guard. Brissett said they didn't miss a beat.
Gannon said that while it's hard to see players go down and get carted off, as happened with Williams and Nolen on Sunday, everyone on the field has to "refocus" and keep playing.
"Obviously, they feel bad for their teammate," Gannon said. "They feel down that they're not going to be out there, but you have to go play football."
Every team deals with injuries. But that's not an excuse for how the year has panned out, Beachum said.
"Nobody cares," Beachum said. "There's no team in the National Football League that hasn't had to deal with injuries of some type."