James Conner, Trey Benson questionable

On By Littum

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Running back James Conner is officially listed as questionable for Cardinals‘Week 17 match against Aries Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon didn’t offer much of an update Thursday on the status of Conner or his backup, Trey Benson. He said he doesn’t know if the decision on either player will come down to playing time, but added that Conner’s progression has been “good” this week.

“(He looks) like he does every week,” running backs coach Autry Denson added. “James is always ready to go.”

Conner, who has a career-high 1,500 scrimmage yards this season, suffered a right knee injury in the second half of the Cardinals’ Week 16 loss to the Panthers, eliminating them from playoff contention. He was not sent off, but spent the rest of the game on the sidelines in a jacket and did not return.

On Monday, Gannon said Conner “wants to play” despite the Cardinals’ elimination and would if healthy.

Conner was listed as a limited participant on all three practice reports this week. Tuesday’s was an estimated report as the Cardinals held only one review. The team held training on both Wednesday and Thursday.

During the portion of practice open to the media, Conner appeared to go through receiving and passing drills with his normal agility and movement. On Thursday, he wore a full leg sleeve on his injured right leg. On Wednesday, he wore sweatpants that would have hidden any potential underwire or sleeve.

Benson was also a limited participant in all three practice reports this week. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 15 against the New England Patriots and missed last Sunday’s overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers.

“Do what he’s trained to do,” Gannon said when asked what he’d like to see from Benson if he assumes the starting role Saturday night. “Have fun, make plays.”

Benson, a third-round rookie out of Florida State, has 291 yards and a touchdown on 63 carries this year. He has caught all six of his targets for 59 yards. He struggled early in the season but has worked into a bigger role of late, averaging 5.3 attempts over the past six games.

If neither back is available, the Cardinals will likely turn to Michael Carter, who has spent most of the season on the practice squad, for the starting role. DeeJay Dallas will also be active, but he serves primarily as a returner.

Gannon said earlier this week that Carter “would get a lot of carries” if Conner and Benson are both out.

Cardinals aiming to improve revenue

Among Gannon’s persistent mantras is extolling the “value of the ball” — or the importance of turnovers.

But through 16 weeks, the Cardinals rank 20th in turnover margin, with minus four. They are league average in preventing giveaways but have only managed 14 takeaways. Only seven teams — and zero playoff teams — are worse.

Generating more of those plays on defense is a focus for Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis the past two weeks.

In Gannon’s mind, there are two ways to look at takeaways: You can see them as a natural result of good defense or as a specific area to focus on, learning different ways to force turnovers. The Cardinals take the latter approach, but it hasn’t translated into games often enough.

“You can tell those teams understand the value of the ball a little more,” Gannon said. “Everybody does, but you see, the defense for me is coached and trained in a way that really tries to emphasize those opportunities. They haven’t come for us a couple of times here in the last month. We haven’t taken it gone so much. And that’s a statistic we know we need to improve.”

It will be hard to do that against the Rams. Only three teams have turned the ball over less.

Other news and notes

  • Safety Joey Blount will miss Saturday’s game with a rib injury. He primarily plays on special teams.
  • Linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. has cleared concussion protocol and will play Saturday after missing one game.
  • Gannon confirmed journeyman Jackson Barton will start at right tackle in place of the injured Jonah Williams. Fifth-round rookie Christian Jones will likely be active on game day for the first time in his career as a backup.
  • Third-round rookie cornerback Elijah Jones was not activated Thursday, meaning his season is over. He has not played this year due to a foot injury he suffered in the preseason. It was labeled a heel injury when Jones first went on injured reserve, but has been described as an ankle injury in recent weeks.