Andre Ellington ‘more than ready to go’ for game vs. Lions

TEMPE, Ariz. — Andre Ellington was this close to making his return last Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, but Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians ultimately decided it best to give the running back one more week off.

“It was really a game-time decision between he and a healthy player, how much we would have used him,” Arians said Monday. “So I went with the healthy guy.”

The Cardinals were back on the field Wednesday practicing for a Sunday tilt with the Detroit Lions. Ellington was listed as a “limited” participant, but according to Arians, the plan is for the third-year pro to suit up Sunday.

Ellington has been sidelined since spraining the PCL in his right knee in a Week 1 win over the New Orleans Saints, and said while he could have played Sunday against the Rams if necessary, getting a little extra time off didn’t hurt.

“Getting that rest was good,” he said. “Going into this week I feel much more better.”

Ellington had a feeling he would not play last week because Arians was “not interested in beating me up,” and that getting him back to 100 percent was the most important thing.

The 26-year-old who ran for 69 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries before the injury wouldn’t say he’s at 100 percent now because he didn’t want to put a percentage on where he’s at.

“But I’ll say more than ready to go for this game,” he offered.

In the time he’s been sidelined Ellington has watched veteran Chris Johnson and rookie David Johnson emerge, with the former reestablishing himself with efforts of 72, 110 and 83 yards — along with two touchdowns — in the three full games Ellington has missed.

When asked if it will be difficult to divide up carries between three talented running backs, Arians said no because “the young guy sits down.”

In this case, the “young guy” would be rookie David Johnson, though Ellington said Arians hasn’t really said much in terms of how he plans on utilizing each back going forward.

“We’re all pretty much capable of doing the same stuff, so whichever number he wants at the time, we’ll just have to be ready for it,” he said.

Ellington, who said he is the other running backs’ “biggest cheerleader,” made sure he was in tune with the team and studying film as if he was able to play, so that when the time came for him to return he would not be far behind.

That time appears to be this week, and while no one is quite sure what kind of role Ellington will have, he said he is not the kind of running back who needs a ton of carries to find his groove.

“Usually when you get that first hit out of the way, you get the ball about three or four times, you kind of get your adrenaline going and the game slows down for you,” he said. “For me, I’ll say about four to five carries, I’ll be good.”

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