Trey Benson became the Arizona Cardinals’ starting running back this year when James Conner went down with a season-ending injury. He injured his knee in his first game in his new role and has been out since then. His return could come in Week 14 based on his most recent status updates.
Will Trey Benson Return in Week 14 for the Cardinals?
Benson had his 21-day practice window opened by the Cardinals on November 19, suggesting he is nearing his return from a knee injury.
The franchise will need to activate for one of their next two games, or his season is officially over. This means that he has a strong chance of playing in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams.
Paul Charchian recently gave his take on the situation in response to Cardinals reporter Bo Brack sharing that the team has waived running back Jermar Jefferson.
This could indicate their intentions for the position this week. “Good chance this means Trey Benson returns,” speculated Charchian.
Waiving Jefferson theoretically opens a roster spot for Benson to return in Week 14 against the Rams, especially since they play the same position.
Good chance this means Trey Benson returns. https://t.co/FvRz2LlKCn
— Paul Charchian (@PaulCharchian) December 1, 2025
Fantasy Football Injury Analyst Jeff Mueller doesn’t necessarily believe he is ready to go yet, based on his response to Dave Kluge’s question about why he missed two practices last week before being inactive against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Only intel I’ve gotten is that Trey Benson experienced soreness in his knee, leading to the DNPx2 last week. It’s a long time to miss due to a meniscectomy, could mean his joint line isn’t responding well/healing rapidly. Could be activated but still take several weeks to return,” shared Mueller.
If the second-year running back is going to play at any point before the end of the 2025 NFL season, the Cardinals have until December 10 to activate him from the IR officially. He doesn’t need to play in a game before then, making his availability for Week 14 questionable at this point. His practice activity this week will give a much better indication of whether his rumored setback will affect his potential return.
Arizona has been dealing with a long list of injuries to its backfield, with Emari Demercado also missing last week’s game with an ankle injury. Their depth has been tested with Bam Knight and Michael Carter handling most of the workload. They rank 49th and 50th among all running backs in PFSN’s Impact Rankings for this season through 13 weeks.