Cardinals’ Trey Benson is running out of time for a 2025 return

TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson’s trajectory back to action has taken an unexpected turn.

After logging four days of limited work after Arizona opened up his practice window on Nov. 19, Benson has surprisingly been a nonparticipant the past four.

And while the Cardinals are still in the “we’ll see” mode as Benson tries to check the mental and physical boxes toward a return, the clock is seriously ticking on the running back’s availability the rest of the way.

If he can’t get activated by this Wednesday, Benson will revert back to injured reserve. That would end his second season at just 29 carries for 160 yards and no touchdowns to go along with five catches for 19 yards.

Don’t all groan at once, fantasy football managers, who are very much plotting his return against some juicy matchups come playoff time.

Given his hype this training camp plus inheriting the RB1 role from James Conner, Benson’s totals are far from what many expected the 2024 third-round pick to put up in 2025.

The knee injury he suffered in Week 4 has a lot to do with that. Averaging 5.5 yards per carry, Benson looked like he was about to take that next step on his way to being the Cardinals’ future RB1.

But not getting back in the mix before the end of the season would carry another serious question mark into the offseason about what the Cardinals will do at running back.

Sure, Conner is under contract for next year. Will he even be ready to go by training camp or even the start of the regular season?

Given the extent and optics of his ankle injury, plus the unknown around his current recovery, his future availability is seriously up in the air.

At this point, a Benson activation ahead of this week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams seems highly unlikely. Just getting him back on the practice field would be a win.

That leaves just a handful of days to prove Benson’s ready to return. Talk about threading the needle.

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