NFL teams
Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Cardinals rookie Damond Powell recovering from gunshot wounds

NFL, Arizona Cardinals

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals rookie wide receiver Damond Powell is in stable condition three days after being shot outside his Toledo, Ohio, home, his high school coach said Monday.

Rick Rios, who coached Powell at Rogers High School, said one bullet struck Powell's jaw and another hit him in the neck and lodged between the C1 and C2 vertebrae. Surgery was put off over the weekend while doctors waited for swelling to subside, Rios said.

Rios said Powell, 22, posted a video on Facebook over the weekend in which he sounded "weak" but "spoke audibly well." In the video, Powell was thankful for the support he's received the past few days.

"I know DP will overcome this as well!" Rios told ESPN.com in a text message. "He's a highly motivated kid!"

In the video, Powell said he would remain positive and that he would be back playing soon. The Cardinals report for training camp Friday and hold their first practice Saturday.

Powell was shot Friday around 8:36 p.m. and taken to the University of Toledo Medical Center, according to the Toledo Police Department.

Police said there are three suspects, all black men, and they wore masks and were driving a gold car. As of Monday morning, no arrests had been made.

Powell was signed by the Cardinals in May as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Iowa.

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