TEMPE, ARIZONA – The Arizona Cardinals’ run game faltered when James Conner suffered a knee injury early in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
It lost the focal point of a ground attack that had served as the backbone of offensive coordinator Drew Petzing’s approach.
The Cardinals lost 50.3% of their run-game productivity after Conner was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday, which will keep him out for at least the next four games. Conner also had two of the Cardinals’ four longest plays this season.
“He’s one of our leaders,” wide receiver Zach Pascal said following the first game. “I guess you could say we go as he go.”
And now, with a road trip to face the Los Angeles Rams (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox), the Cardinals must figure out what their running game will look like without Conner, who is tied for eighth in the NFL in rushing with 364 yards.
“Nobody’s going to fill James’ shoes perfectly, right?” said Petzing.
Who comes next on the depth chart has yet to be determined.
Keaontay Ingram, Conner’s backup, has missed the last two games due to a neck ailment. Third-string running back Emari Demercado took Conner’s position on Sunday and ended with 45 yards on 10 carries.
“I thought Emari did a great job of that and I expect everybody in the room to pick up the slack and really kind of fill in when needed,” Petzing went on to say.
Demercado was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cardinals in May after a five-year career at TCU in which he rushed for 1,615 yards and 10 touchdowns on 338 attempts. He added a touchdown to his 150 rushing yards in last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal versus Michigan at State Farm Stadium, and he scored his first NFL touchdown on Sunday at the same venue.
Behind them would be Corey Clement, a practice squad running back who has been promoted in the last two weeks; Tony Jones Jr., who was acquired off waivers by the Cardinals on Monday; and Damien Williams, who was signed to the practice squad last week.
This week will be spent sorting out the rotation and getting the newer backs up to speed on the Cardinals’ run strategy, which Petzing has highlighted to his coaches in the last few days is their duty — to get their players ready regardless of how long they’ve been on the team.
“I think all those guys in that room are going to have some role in this football game and moving forward in this offense,” he added. “Because I believe they all do certain things slightly better than the other guy, or they have slightly different roles or runs they enjoy or things they see well.”
“I don’t think a lot changes,” he added. “I think it’s one of the things we talked about, is I trust everybody in that room.”
Demercado, who had only 3 yards all season entering Sunday’s game, is the team’s next most productive running back.
According to Petzing, a lot of Dobbs’ runs are read-option runs, which are often dictated by the defense and the pace of the game.
While Petzing does not want Dobbs to be injured while rushing the ball, he is not opposed to his quarterback taking off.
“Every game will be different,” Petzing remarked. “However, I believe that is something he excels at. I believe it is something that makes us dynamic as an offense, and I believe it is something we will continue to emphasize moving forward, scheme permitting.
“But, yeah, something he does well and I think it makes it hard on the defense.”
