Arizona Cardinals coach says Andre Ellington is ‘a game-time decision’ for Philadelphia

TEMPE, Ariz. — It came as a bit of a shock when Andre Ellington’s name appeared on Thursday’s injury report for the Arizona Cardinals.

Coach Bruce Arians said the rookie “tweaked” his left knee near the end of practice Thursday and is a “game-time decision” after missing practice Friday.

Arians said Ellington’s injury isn’t serious, but “we want to be careful with him.”

Ellington said he hurt the knee when he turned to make a cut toward the end of Thursday’s practice, but noted he feels better Friday than he did the day before.

“I’m good to go,” he said.

Granted, that kind of goes against what Arians said, but Ellington is banking on the next couple of days giving him enough time to heal.

“That’s a lot of rest, two days,” he said. “I’m going to continue to rehab and get to Sunday and kind of get out there and run around a little bit.”

A sixth-round pick out of Clemson last April, Ellington has emerged as one of the team’s most dynamic playmakers. A running back, he has gained 441 yards on just 73 carries and caught 28 passes for 247 yards. He’s scored three total touchdowns.

Should Ellington miss the game, Rashard Mendenhall and Stepfan Taylor would figure to pick up the slack, with Alfonso Smith also being in the mix for some additional work.

“Just one guy out,” Arians said of the blow that would be not having Ellington. “There’s still a bunch of guys who are capable of taking his place, and we’ll make our adjustments that we need to make.”

The coach, though, admitted there are about five or six plays that would have to be removed from the game plan if Ellington is unable to go because no one else on the team can do them.

“Other than that, just keep on rolling.”

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