Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson will miss the next 4-6 weeks following arthroscopic surgery on his meniscus. In a corresponding move, the team has placed him on injured reserve.
Benson was elevated to the starting running back role following the season ending injury to James Conner last month. Now with him out for the foreseeable future, the Cardinals backfield will turn to Emari Demercado, Michael Carter and Bam Knight to carry the load.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters he wasn’t sure exactly when Benson injured his knee in Week 4, but that his knee was sore when he came into the team facility for treatment following the game. Gannon also told reporters that all 3 backs remaining on the roster figure to see touches this week vs. Tennessee.
“I don’t know,” Gannon said. “We’ll see how kind of the week goes, but we obviously know we got to pick up that role but feel good about Bam and Emari and Mike Carter.”
It’s a brutal blow to a Cardinals team that started the year 2-0 before suffering two heartbreaking losses to the 49ers and Seahawks in back-to-back weeks. Now they’ll need to reinvent their offensive philosophy, which could lead to a more pass happy offering, or relying on Kyler Murray with more designed QB runs.
Arizona went out and signed running back Jermar Jefferson to their practice squad Wednesday to add some more depth to a suddenly depleted position.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.