Wide receiver Anquan Boldin gave the Arizona Cardinals quite a scare yesterday, being carted off the field after being hit helmet-to-helmet trying to make a touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter of a lopsided loss to the New York Jets.

Boldin, who had 10 catches and a touchdown in the game, was first hit in the back, then took a shot to his helmet from Eric Smith trying to catch a pass from Kurt Warner with 27 seconds remaining in the Cardinals' 56-35 loss to the Jets.

Both Boldin and Smith fell to the turf, and Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald immediately waved to the sideline for help.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt said Boldin was alert and was moving his extremities. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for what Whisenhunt said were precautionary reasons.

After being worked on for several minutes, Boldin was immobilized and placed on a stretcher before he was carted off the field. Smith was able to get up after a few moments.

Boldin was talking to his teammates coming off the field and going into the locker room.

“;He asked to get up and the doctors won't let him,”; Whisenhunt said.

At Kansas City, Mo., Denver wide receiver Clifford Russell was immobilized and taken off the field on a stretcher after spraining his neck in the fourth quarter of a 33-19 loss to the Chiefs.

Russell, a Campbell High alumnus, was hurt on Kansas City's return of the kickoff following a Broncos touchdown.

He lifted his left hand and waved as he was taken off the field.

The team said last night that Russell was taken to a hospital for examination and then accompanied the team on its charter flight back to Denver.

While Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer didn't play because of a sore elbow, Minnesota QB Gus Frerotte hurt his non-throwing hand late in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 30-17 loss to Tennessee when he was hit as he threw from his end zone.

Frerotte had thrown for 266 yards and pulled the visiting Vikings to 23-17 after a 79-yard drive with 6 minutes left. But he threw two straight incompletions from his end zone after the Titans downed a punt at the Vikings 2. He was hit on third down, and cornerback Nick Harper picked off the pass.

That sent Frerotte to the locker room, where he received a couple of stitches in his left hand.

Tarvaris Jackson, who was benched in favor of Frerotte after an 0-2 start, took over and completed a pass before being sacked on the next two plays.

The Bengals didn't reveal Palmer's injury until late in the week, and when he'll be able to play is hard to say. His replacement, Ryan Fitzpatrick, looked rusty in a loss to Cleveland.

Green Bay also lost its quarterback. Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns to Greg Jennings, who had six receptions for 109 yards, but he was sacked three times and left the Packers' 31-20 loss to Tampa Bay for one series with a shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter.

The fourth-year pro returned briefly after Green Bay fell behind 23-21 on Matt Bryant's third field goal of the game. But he was hit from the blindside as he launched a pass on second down, and the ball was picked off by Gaines Adams with just over 2 minutes to go.

The Packers said Rodgers will be examined today. The quarterback thinks he might have separated the shoulder when he was tackled after scrambling for a 7-yard gain in the third quarter.

Carolina lost both its offensive tackles when Jordan Gross and Jeff Otah were injured in a win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Left tackle Gross left in the first quarter with a concussion, and right tackle Otah injured his right ankle with 2:26 to play in the third period. Neither returned.

It wasn't clear how Gross was injured with 9:45 to play in the first. He was laying face down on the grass, and quarterback Jake Delhomme said he believed Gross was briefly unconscious.

After a delay of several minutes, a stretcher was sent onto the field for Gross, who waived it off. He instead left on the back of a cart, pumping his right fist to the crowd as he left.