Earlier this month, the Arizona Cardinals saw starting center A.Q. Shipley go down with a season-ending ACL tear that has landed him on the injured reserve.

Despite that, the team has decided to ink Shipley to a one-year extension that runs through the 2019 season, according to Darren Urban of Azcardinals.com.

The Cardinals on Friday signed Shipley, who was scheduled to be a free agent after the season, to a one-year contract extension through the 2019 season. Shipley is currently on injured reserve after hurting his knee during the Red and White practice Aug. 4. Before his injury, Shipley had started 32 straight regular-season games and only missed three snaps in that time frame.

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This is a tremendous level of commitment from the franchise to Shipley with this being the first significant injury of his career. Prior to that, he had proven to be a highly valuable piece of the offensive line as he had started every game in the last two years. His injury forces the Cardinals to turn to rookie center Mason Cole, who was selected with the 97th overall pick in the third round of this year’s draft out of Michigan.

This is additional motivation for Shipley to prove that he can return to form next season when he returns to the field where he will have a chance to step back into the starting role. It also gives the Cardinals a backup plan if Cole struggles to provide some consistent play under center this upcoming season as he will have to anchor their offensive line.

If anything, this is a unique gesture from the Cardinals to show much faith that Shipley can make his return to the field next season and be a productive player. Only time will tell if he will be able to showcase that in the 2019 campaign.