James Conner injury: Cardinals RB out for season after being carted from field vs. 49ers

James Conner's gruesome ankle injury from Sunday's Week 3 game against the San Francisco 49ers is indeed season ending, coach Jonathan Gannon confirmed Monday. The veteran running back for the Arizona Cardinals was carted off the field in the second half of the 16-15 loss with the majority of players from both teams gathered around him for support.

On a second-and-1, Conner was trying to wriggle away from 49ers defensive lineman Jordan Elliott when safety Marques Sigle joined in on the tackling effort, resulting in Conner's right leg twisting awkwardly.

After the game, Gannon told reporters that it was an ankle injury for Conner but that he didn't know the severity. 

Nick Bosa injury update: 49ers star to undergo season-ending surgery for torn ACL, per reports

Jordan Dajani

Conner, 30, has suffered multiple injuries to his right knee, including a torn MCL in college and in 2017 when he was with the Steelers. He has dealt with a bevy of other injuries but also ended last season on IR -- after the Cardinals had been eliminated from playoff contention -- due to a lingering knee issue. He also had a left ankle injury back in 2018.

Conner entered the NFL as one of the league's most inspiring stories after he overcame Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma when he was in college at Pitt. He made the Pro Bowl in his second NFL season, with the Steelers, and again in 2021, his first season with the Cardinals. He has had at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in all four of his seasons with Arizona.

Trey Benson set for expanded role

Second-year ballcarrier Trey Benson is in line to become the lead back for Arizona. Benson finished Sunday's contest with 51 yards from scrimmage (42 rushing, 9 receiving) and had been chipping away at Conner's workload early in the season, making him the obvious choice to step up on the depth chart and take the majority of carries the rest of the way.

This season was always going to provide a step forward for Benson, who through three games already handled a third of the workload he saw as a rookie. He was a popular breakout pick entering the year -- especially given Conner's injury history -- and now looks poised to deliver a career year with a potentially massive workload.

Benson was Arizona's third-round pick in 2024 and always figured to be part of the Cardinals' long-term plans given their investment and enthusiasm towards working him into the offense as Conner's shadow. He excelled at Florida State with consecutive 900-yard seasons and averaged just over a touchdown per game in his final year with the Seminoles.