There have been many brutal injuries during the Sunday games in Week 3 of the NFL season. The latest struck Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner as he suffered a devastating leg injury against the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s the latest information and everything to know about Conner being carted off the field.
What Happened to Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner?
Yet another running back has gone down with what appears to be a season-ending injury, as Conner had his right ankle caught underneath a 49ers defender and was twisted down to the ground on a tackle.
Conner grabbed his right ankle as the medical staff rushed to his aid. The injury was so severe that he could not put weight on it and had to be carted off the field.
James Conner #cardinals
Right ankle gets caught as his body gets twisted putting a major valgus and rotational force on his knee. A lot of bodies in the way but this will stress the MCL for sure, possibly meniscus. Hopefully the knee being flexed spares the ACL but we’ll see pic.twitter.com/P8JztXktxL
— Tom Christ, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT (@FantasyInjuryT) September 21, 2025
Easily the most brutal injury of a devastating slate, Conner is almost certainly done for the season. He had shown decreased efficiency, but was still effective catching passes and as the goal line back. With Conner done, the Cardinals will now lean on Trey Benson as their lead back with Emari Demercado backing him up.
NFL insider Josh Weinfuss provided an update on Conner after the game. “A source told ESPN that they assume James Conner’s right ankle injury is severe enough to end his season but an official prognosis hasn’t been made yet,” he wrote on X.
Benson and Demercado are totally unproven and have five combined games with 10+ carries entering Sunday. Benson did stand out in Week 10 last season vs the Jets, when he compiled 87 scrimmage yards on 7.3 yards per touch and a 90.4 (A-) RB Impact grade.
Benson was already seeing increased usage compared to last season, particularly in the receiving game. He is now poised to be the weekly starter and will be an immediate RB2 in fantasy.
Since teams like to use passing-down specialists, we may see Benson come off the field more on third downs now. However, given the lack of depth behind him, there is an outside chance he is also a three-down back with Demercado thrown in.
Conner has been a solid starter for ages, though he was off to a slow start in 2025 (73.2 RB Impact grade ranked 24th entering Week 2). However, the Cardinals star was coming off a resurgent 2024 with an 86.1 grade, the second-highest of his career and sixth overall last season.
Despite Father Time looming, Conner was one of four running backs to enter this season with 1,000 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs in the two previous seasons, the others being Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, and Kyren Williams.
