Outside linebacker Joey Porter was played on injured reserve on Wednesday, ending his season and, most likely, his career.

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Porter missed the last eight games with a knee injury that required surgery earlier this season. Porter wasn’t going to play even if he had returned healthy. Sam Acho has played well as Porter’s replacement.

Porter never provided the pass rush the Cardinals hoped when they signed him in 2010. He had five sacks in 14 games last season and accepted a paycut from $5.75 million to $1.5 million in 2011. This is the last year of his contract.

Porter had just one sack in six games this season. At 34, it’s questionable if Porter will play next season. If not, Porter will finish with 98 career sacks.

Linebacker Brandon Williams was promoted from the practice squad to take the roster spot vacated by Porter. He has been on the practice squad since November. He played in six games last year for the Cowboys.

Running back William Powell was signed to the practice squad. He was in training camp with the team.

It’s one thing to be old and good. That’s considered “vintage.” It’s another to be old and bad.

The Cardinals have one of the older rosters in the NFL based on average age, a fact that wouldn’t be so troublesome if the team had a history of success and was making a last, valiant quest for a Super Bowl title.

But the Cardinals are coming off a 5-11 record in 2010, now are 4-7 and destined to finish out of the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

There is more hope for the future, however, than the average age of the roster (27.4 years) suggests.

First, that number is inflated a bit by the age of the three specialists: kicker Jay Feely (35), punter Dave Zastudil (33) and long snapper Mike Leach (35).

Every regular starter on offense is under 30. The problem, at least at the beginning of the season, was on defense. Five starters were 30 or older, as were the three backup defensive linemen.

The Cardinals needed their young players to develop, and many of them have.

Rookie Sam Acho has played well since taking over for the injured Joey Porter, 34, at right outside linebacker five games ago. Acho already has as many sacks, five, as Porter had in 16 games last season.

Outside linebacker O’Brien Schofield, in his second year, is working into the rotation at outside linebacker as the playing time of Clark Haggans, 34, decreases.

The starting defensive line will be young, and good, if nose tackle Dan Williams ever gets in shape and if end Calais Campbell is re-signed.

Neither is a given.

The Cardinals are especially excited about this year’s draft class. Of the seven picks, four have made significant contributions this season. Only running back Ryan Williams, tight end Rob Housler and receiver DeMarco Sampson haven’t.

The young players’ impact was evident in Sunday’s victory against the Rams. Patrick Peterson returned a punt for a touchdown for the fourth time this season. Acho had two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Fullback Anthony Sherman blocked for Beanie Wells, who rushed for 228 yards, a franchise record.

Williams, the second-rounder, was dynamic in training camp before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Housler, the third-round pick, has unique receiving skills but has been hampered by a groin injury.

Acho, the fourth-rounder, is the type of player the Steelers find all the time. Generously listed at 6 feet 3, he is not the ideal size for an outside linebacker, but he’s made a great impact. And he’s smart.

Sherman, the fifth-rounder, has been a steady blocker and plays on special teams. The sixth-rounder, nose tackle David Carter, has contributed far more than expected. And seventh-rounder Sampson has a chance to develop into a rotational receiver.

A strong case can be made that a couple of the rookies should have been playing earlier. Porter made no impact when he was healthy enough to contribute yet played considerably more than Acho and Schofield.

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton was installing a new system, and Porter started because Horton needed players who knew how to run it.

But Porter started mainly because it’s not coach Ken Whisenhunt’s style to hand starting jobs to rookies.

“The natural tendency is to put them in there and just let them play, grow with them,” Whisenhunt said, “but you can’t always do that. It’s not fair to the other guys on your team who have been here and worked hard.

“Sometimes you don’t have a choice because of injuries or because of depth at positions. I guess other people or other teams have different philosophies, but being raised in the system that I was raised in and believing in that, the way you do it is what’s fair to everybody. I think it creates a sense of team that’s important, because when guys have success, you know that they’ve earned it and everybody is excited about that.”

Though the performances of young players provide rays of optimism in a dismal season, they also foreshadow depth problems.

There are no young outside linebackers behind Schofield and Acho. There are no young offensive linemen in the developmental stages. The backup defensive linemen are in their 30s.

It’s early, but the Cardinals’ 2011 draft appears to be among their best in years.

It’s also clear the organization desperately needs another one just like it.

Notes

Peterson was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance Sunday at St. Louis.

It was the second time he has been honored with that award this season (Week 9, also vs. St. Louis). Peterson, now with four punt-return touchdowns, tied the NFL’s single-season record but he is the only one whose four returns have covered 80 yards or more (89, 82, 99 and 80).

- The team elevated wide receiver Jaymar Johnson from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster and released fullback Reagan Maui’a. Johnson has been on the Cardinals’ practice squad since Sept. 20.

Coach’s corner

“In doing the evaluations of the rookie quarterbacks, we were looking at somebody that we thought could come in here and play. If you get a rookie, you know you’re going to have to develop them. Who knows with the way the season’s gone. You never know how a season’s going to go or what’s going to unfold from that direction or what other quarterbacks you have at that spot. So, really, I can’t answer that question. Before I would have put him in there and made him the starter, he would have had to earn it. Ben Roethlisberger got in there his first year in Pittsburgh because our starter got hurt, and he never looked back after that.”

- Ken Whisenhunt, on whether he would play a rookie quarterback this season had the Cardinals drafted one

Stat pack

- Running back Beanie Wells has 849 yards rushing this season, a career high. He gained 793 yards in 2009, his rookie season.

- Wells’ eight rushing touchdowns also are a career high. The 849 yards is the most a Cardinals back has gained through 11 games since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1988.

- Highest rushing total through 11 games (1960-present):

Yards - Player (Year)

1,105 – Ottis Anderson (1979)

910 – Ottis Anderson (1981)

868 – John David Crow (1960)

864 – MacArthur Lane (1970)

849 – Beanie Wells (2011)

- Before this season, the Cardinals had two punt returns for touchdowns in their 23-year history in Arizona. That was a span of 368 games. Johnny Bailey had one in 1993, and Steve Breaston had one in 2007. Patrick Peterson has four in 11 games this season.

The Cardinals entered the season with the same starting four linebackers as last year, but with three reserves now assuming larger roles, that could change in the coming weeks.

Stewart Bradley, O’Brien Schofield and Sam Acho played more snaps last week against the Steelers than in any previous game this year.

That trend likely will continue Sunday against the Ravens.

Acho, a fourth-round pick this year, could start in place of Joey Porter, who missed practice this week with a knee injury. Schofield probably will play at each outside position against the Ravens, and Bradley, an inside linebacker, likely will be used as an edge rusher in pass situations, as was the case last week.

“You have to find a way to get pressure on the quarterback,” defensive coordinator Ray Horton said, “and we’re looking at all options in personnel and making sure no stone is unturned. We have to find a way to make the quarterback not happy back there.”

The Cardinals have 13 sacks, which is about in the middle of the NFL when pass attempts are figured into the equation. But their four-man rush isn’t producing much, and Horton has to call blitzes to apply pressure.

That’s the reason Bradley played outside in some passing situations.

He hit Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger once and had a tackle for loss in a limited amount of plays.

“I’m glad to be on the field, you know?” Bradley said. “It’s different than what I’ve done in football but I really enjoyed it.”

As a free agent, Bradley signed a five-year, $30 million deal before the season. But he struggled to make the adjustment from the 4-3 scheme, which he was in for four years with the Eagles, to the 3-4 base defense the Cardinals use.

Paris Lenon has held on to the starting job at inside linebacker.

On the outside, Porter and Clark Haggans kept their jobs, even though Schofield and Acho were expected to push them.

Porter and Haggans are each 34, and Porter took a $4.25 million pay cut this year after finishing with five sacks in 2010.

Schofield made too many mental mistakes in the preseason to contend for Porter’s job, and Acho wasn’t quite ready.

Last week, however, each played about 25 snaps. Acho recorded the first sack of his career. Schofield had no tackles but he hit Roethlisberger once.

“In football, you need a rhythm,” Schofield said. “It’s hard when you come in for one play, or three plays and you don’t play again for two quarters.

“It is the NFL, you’ve got to be ready, but as a pass rusher, you can’t be out there one play and think you’re going to get a sack, because it doesn’t happen that way. You have to set guys up. You have to go out there and kind of feel out what they’re doing to you.”

Acho learned the defense quickly for a rookie who, like all the players, did not have the benefit of an off-season. Like Schofield, Acho played defensive end in college and was more accustomed to lining up in a three-point stance than as a stand-up linebacker.

“He’s getting more (snaps) every week and doing a nice job,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “He’s a very smart young man. From where he’s come from, a guy with his hand in the dirt, to being an outside linebacker, he’s really done a great job. The next test is when he gets more extended (time), how he handles that.”

Injury update

Running back Beanie Wells’ participation in practice increased on Friday, and his availability to play against the Ravens will be determined on Sunday morning.

Wells suffered a knee sprain against the Steelers last week and didn’t practice on Wednesday. He participated on a limited basis the next two days.

Tight end Todd Heap (hamstring) and Porter (knee) also will be game-day decisions. For the Ravens, starting guard Ben Grubbs (toe) has been ruled out, as have receiver Lee Evans (ankle), running back Anthony Allen (thigh) and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (thigh).

Safety Ed Reed (stinger) is probable.

Defensive end Vonnie Holliday is 35, and the Cardinals are his sixth NFL team. But playing against a former team motivates Holliday as much as it ever has.

The Redskins traded Holliday to the Cardinals in early August, receiving running back Tim Hightower in return. Hightower said that he feels extra motivation this week, and Holliday feels the same, even though he spent only one season with the Redskins.

“You never get past that,” Holliday said. “I played for the Green Bay Packers many years ago (1998-2002) and any time we play Green Bay I’m fired up and looking forward to it. So there are no exceptions, especially the ‘Skins. It’s pretty fresh in my mind. It was a little over a month ago I was right in there, mixing it up with those guys.”

Holliday, a backup to Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett, has been helping teammates on both offense and defense in preparing to play the Redskins on Sunday.

“Having played in that defense – although it was only a year – I certainly have a grasp of what they’re trying to do over there,” he said.

Quarterback Kevin Kolb said Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett will do some unconventional things, and Holliday agreed that Haslett is unique.

“He gets emotional and really involved in the game,” Holliday said. “He still has that player in him, and so sometimes he gets a little carried away. He just wants to go after you, go after you. But they have the guys to do it.”

Injury update

Four players missed practice with injuries on Wednesday, including two starting linebackers, Daryl Washington and Joey Porter.

Washington suffered a calf strain Sunday against Carolina, while Porter has a knee ailment. Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling’s right hand was in a heavy wrap on Wednesday, and tight Jim Dray was out with the pectoral strain he suffered in the preseason.

The prognosis for those players is unknown, because the Cardinals, like most other NFL teams, don’t reveal more than the minimum of information required.

Washington acknowledged that “the plan” is to play this week, although there are no assurances of that. Stephens-Howling begged off an interview request.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt declined comment when asked whether Stephens-Howling had suffered a fracture.

Whisenhunt said Washington is “improving” and will be evaluated later in the week.

Stephens-Howling plays a variety of roles. Patrick Peterson, Andre Roberts or A.J. Jefferson could become the primary kick returner. Cornerback Michael Adams would replace Stephens-Howling on punt coverage, and Chester Taylor could replace him as the backup running back.

Reggie Walker or Stewart Bradley would replace Washington. Sam Acho or O’Brien Schofield could start for Porter if necessary.

Sack changed

A sack of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday was scored incorrectly.

The sack will be split between linebackers Washington and Schofield. It originally was credited to Porter.

So Porter still needs three sacks to reach 100 for his career.