Cardinals' James Conner: Officially sent to injured reserve
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The Cardinals placed Conner (foot) on injured reserve Tuesday.
It's merely a procedural move, as Conner has already been ruled out for the season after he was injured in Sunday's loss to the 49ers. Conner's season is cut short after rushing 32 times for 95 yards and one touchdown. He added eight catches for 38 yards and an additional score as a receiver. With Conner done for the year, the Cardinals are set to roll with Trey Benson as their No. 1 RB, with Emari Demercado as depth in the backfield.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Slated for season-ending surgery
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Coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday that Conner will undergo season-ending foot surgery, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.
Conner exited Sunday's loss at San Francisco early in the third quarter with what initially was termed an ankle injury, which was severe enough for Adam Schefter of ESPN to report that the running back's 2025 campaign was over. Now that Conner's coach has confirmed as much as well as the true nature of the injury, he'll end the season with 32 carries for 95 yards and one touchdown and eight catches (on nine targets) for 38 yards and another score in three games. Trey Benson is expected to lead Arizona's backfield moving forward, but Emari Demercado also should get the occasional rep on game days.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Expected to miss rest of season
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Conner is expected to miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday's loss to the 49ers, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Conner will require surgery after suffering a "severe" ankle injury against San Francisco. The team doesn't yet know the full extent of the injury, but Conner's 2025 seems to be over. With Conner now sidelined, Trey Benson immediately becomes a plug-and-play fantasy starter at running back, and Emari Demercado figures to slide into the mix as the Cardinals' RB2.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Week 3 over following ankle injury
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Conner (right ankle) won't return to Sunday's game in San Francisco.
Conner required a cart to get off the field after he was tackled high and low by 49ers defenders on a one-yard carry early in the third quarter. His Week 3 has come to a close after tallying 37 yards from scrimmage and no TDs on 12 touches. Trey Benson is poised for most of the Cardinals' RB reps for the rest of Sunday's contest.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Gets carted off field
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Conner was carted off the field during Sunday's game at San Francisco with an apparent right ankle injury, Dani Sureck of the Cardinals' official site reports.
Conner was tackled high and low at the end of a one-yard run early in the third quarter and immediately clutched at his lower right leg after the play. At the time he left the field, he had nine carries for 22 yards and three catches (on four targets) for 15 yards. Trey Benson will take on a larger role in the Cardinals offense for as long as Conner is sidelined.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Re-establishes himself as lead back
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Conner took 11 carries for 34 yards and a touchdown while bringing in his only target for 18 yards in Sunday's 27-22 win over Carolina.
Conner re-established himself as Arizona's lead back Sunday after Trey Benson led the team in rushing in Week 1. The latter received just three carries with most of his work coming in the passing game, while Conner handled a team-high 11 carries and hit pay dirt for the second time in as many weeks. Both talented backs figure to remain involved moving forward, but fantasy managers who roster Conner have to be relieved seeing the workload distribution tip back in his favor. The Cardinals' next matchup comes against the 49ers next Sunday in a battle of 2-0 NFC West squads.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Salvages day with TD
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Conner carried the ball 12 times for 39 yards and caught all four of his targets for five yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 20-13 win over the Saints.
The veteran was bottled up at the line of scrimmage and watched second-year back Trey Benson break off a 52-yard gain to help him lead the Cardinals in rushing on the day, but Conner was able to make an impact with a four-yard TD catch on an underhand flip from Kyler Murray in the second quarter. Benson was expected to cut into Conner's workload as the 2025 season progressed, but the split could tip even further in the youngster's favor based on the duo's Week 1 performances. Conner will look to reinforce his claim to the RB1 role at home Week 2 against the Panthers.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Expects Benson to take more snaps
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Conner said Saturday that he expects Trey Benson to get a lot of playing time this season, per Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon also has relayed high expectations for Benson, who averaged 5.3 touches and 10.5 snaps in 13 games last season before an ankle injury sent him to injured reserve in December. Conner, meanwhile, averaged 41.1 snaps and 18.5 touches through Week 16, ranking ninth among RBs in PPR points until a knee injury ruined his final two weeks. Both running backs are healthy now, with the 22-year-old apparently set to take more work from the 30-year-old, although Benson can also capture some of what went to Michael Carter (46 touches) and Emari Demercado (40) last season. For Conner, it probably makes sense to limit fantasy expectations to the RB2 range, rather than the RB1/2 borderline where he's typically resided when healthy for the Cardinals (four straight seasons in the range of 15.5 to 17.2 PPR points per game).
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Cardinals' James Conner: Puts knee injury behind him
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Conner (knee) was present for the Cardinals' first OTA of the offseason program Wednesday, Darren Urban of the team's official site reports.
Prior to hurting his right knee Week 16 of last season, Conner had racked up six 100-yard rushing efforts through 15 games, and while he attempted to gut through it Week 17, he managed just six touches before departing early and then was placed on IR before Week 18. Overall, he handled 236 carries and hauled in 47 of 55 targets en route to a career-best 1,518 yards from scrimmage along with nine total touchdowns in 16 regular-season contests. More than five months removed the aforementioned injury, Conner is healthy, stating, "I'm ready," as Arizona kicks off on-field work this spring.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Moves to injured reserve
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The Cardinals placed Conner (knee) on injured reserve Wednesday, Darren Urban of the team's official site reports.
In the last two days, Arizona has placed its top two running backs on IR, with rookie third-round pick Trey Benson (ankle) getting deactivated Tuesday. Conner thus will finish the 2024 campaign with 283 touches for 1,508 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns in 16 games. In a corresponding move, the Cardinals signed Michael Carter off the practice squad, and he likely will lead the backfield Sunday against the 49ers while DeeJay Dallas plays a complementary role.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Doesn't return to Week 17 loss
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Conner (knee), who exited Saturday's game against the Rams in the second quarter and was deemed questionable to return, never re-entered the contest despite wanting to retake the field, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports. Conner finished the defeat with four carries for four yards along with two receptions on three targets for four yards.
According to Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon, Conner may have aggravated the knee injury he initially suffered last Sunday against Carolina by being "twisted up on" at the end of a carry early in the second quarter. After the Cardinals announced that the veteran running back was questionable to re-enter the contest, Conner spent much of the rest of the game with his helmet on along the sideline, and he was never formally ruled out, though he did get looked at by trainers. Gannon mentioned that the plan going into the game was for Conner to be "full go," and the head coach suggested that the talented tailback "wasn't healthy enough to go back in" after being pulled despite Conner's desire to do so. Arizona has already been eliminated from postseason contention, which could be a factor in Conner's status for the team's regular-season finale next weekend against San Francisco.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Exits due to knee issue Saturday
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Conner is questionable to return to Saturday's Week 17 game against the Rams due to a knee injury, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports.
Conner injured his knee last Sunday in a loss to Carolina and was limited throughout practice this week. He received a questionable tag heading into Saturday's contest but was ultimately able to suit up. However, Conner was ineffective early in the game, rushing four times for four yards and catching two of three targets for another four yards, before being deemed questionable for the remainder of the contest in the second quarter. If the star running back is unable to return against Los Angeles, Michael Carter figures to lead Arizona's backfield, with DeeJay Dallas also likely to get some offensive snaps.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Suiting up Saturday
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Conner (knee) is listed as active Saturday at the Rams, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.
Less than a week removed from injuring his right knee last Sunday in Carolina, Conner will be available to the Cardinals offense Week 17, as a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network implied he would be. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network also relayed that Conner will be a "full go" Saturday, meaning he should approach the 18.5 touches per game that he's averaged this season. With rookie third-round pick Trey Benson (ankle) out again, Michael Carter and DeeJay Dallas are the backfield options not named Conner for Arizona this weekend.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Expected to play Saturday
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Conner (knee) is expected to play Saturday night against the Rams, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Along with Rapoport's report, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com indicated Friday that Conner -- who is officially listed as questionable after being deemed a limited practice participant Tuesday through Thursday -- was trending in the right direction ahead of the contest. In any case, confirmation of the running back's Week 17 status will arrive once the Cardinals' inactives are revealed prior to the team's 8:10 ET kickoff.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Trending toward playing Saturday
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Conner (knee) is "trending in the right direction" to play Saturday against the Rams, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.
Conner left last Sunday's Week 16 game against the Panthers early in the second half and was unable to return. However, he got in a trio of limited practice sessions this week, and coach Jonathan Gannon has sounded optimistic about the veteran running back's chances of suiting up for Week 17. DeeJay Dallas and Michael Carter filled in for Conner last week, as Trey Benson (ankle) also was out. Like Conner, Benson is listed as questionable for Saturday's contest.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Officially questionable for Saturday
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Conner (knee) is listed as questionable for Saturday's game at the Rams, Theo Mackie of The Arizona Republic reports.
Conner made an early departure from this past Sunday's loss in Carolina due to a knee injury, which contained him to limited listings on all three Week 17 practice reports. The Cardinals held practice Wednesday and Thursday, the latter of which Conner was spotted with a sleeve on his right leg, per Mackie. Coach Jonathan Gannon told Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com earlier Thursday that Conner has made "good progress" in his recovery, but he also was unsure of the statuses of both Conner and fellow RB Trey Benson (ankle), who also is listed as questionable. Ultimately, Arizona will post its list of inactives for Saturday's game about 90 minutes before an 8:00 p.m. ET kickoff, but if either or both RBs are inhibited or sidelined, Michael Carter and DeeJay Dallas are the next options at the position.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Another limited showing
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Conner (knee) was a limited participant at Wednesday's practice, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reports.
In the wake of hurting his knee this past Sunday in Carolina, Conner has taken part in Tuesday's walk-through session as a limited participant and was limited once again in practice a day later. Conner's practice regimen has been mimicked by his top backup Trey Benson (ankle), making Thursday's practice a vital one in determining whether either or both running backs will carry designations into Saturday's game at the Rams. If Conner is active this weekend, he likely would retain his role as Arizona's lead runner. Aside from Conner and Benson, Michael Carter and DeeJay Dallas are the healthy backs on the active roster.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Limited in first Week 17 practice
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Conner (knee) was estimated as a limited participant in Tuesday's walk-through practice, Zach Gershman of the Cardinals' official site reports.
Despite exiting Sunday's 36-30 overtime loss to the Panthers with the knee injury, Conner looks like he still has a chance at being available for the Cardinals' Week 17 matchup with the Rams on Saturday. Head coach Jonathan Gannon said as much earlier Tuesday, and Conner backed up that optimism by being able to take the field for the Cardinals' first Week 17 session, albeit with a cap on his reps. Even if Conner makes enough progress in his recovery from the injury to play Saturday, he could be in store for a lighter workload than he's handled in previous weeks, as the Cardinals have no incentive to push him while the team has been eliminated from playoff contention.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Could play in Week 17
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Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said Tuesday that Conner (knee) has a chance to play in Saturday's game against the Rams, Theo Mackie of The Arizona Republic reports.
Even though they were eliminated from the playoffs after Sunday's 36-30 overtime loss to the Panthers, the 7-8 Cardinals aren't looking to shut Conner down due to the knee injury he suffered in Week 16. That said, given that Arizona has little at stake over the final two games of the season, Conner may not be cleared to play Sunday if the knee injury affects his practice participation leading up to the contest. Even if Conner gets the green light to suit up, the Cardinals could also look to lighten his workload in order to preserve his health heading into next season. With Trey Benson (ankle) also working through an injury that kept him sidelined for the loss to Carolina, Michael Carter would be the next man up for work out of the backfield if neither Conner nor Benson are able to play in Los Angeles.
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Cardinals' James Conner: Injures knee Sunday
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Conner suffered a knee injury during Sunday's game at Carolina, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.
Conner went in the sideline tent in the third quarter, and after some time he was deemed questionable to return. At the time of his exit, he was putting together a big performance, turning 19 touches into 166 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown. With Emari Demercado (back) on injured reserve and Trey Benson (ankle) inactive, DeeJay Dallas and Michael Carter are the healthy running backs on Arizona's active roster.
