TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his meniscus and is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday.
The Cardinals placed Benson on injured reserve Wednesday, with coach Jonathan Gannon telling reporters that Benson is expected to return this season. A source also told ESPN that Benson will “for sure” play again this season.
Benson must miss at least four games while on injured reserve. The Cardinals have three games until their bye week, putting his return at Week 10 at the earliest.
Gannon said he wasn’t sure when exactly Benson was injured during Thursday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks but that he believed the running back played through the injury for some portion of the contest. Benson’s knee was sore when he came in for his day-after treatment Friday, and that’s when the Cardinals’ medical team took a deeper look at it.
Benson had assumed the starting role in Week 4 after James Conner suffered a season-ending foot injury the prior week against the San Francisco 49ers. Benson rushed for 35 yards on eight carries and had five catches for 19 yards against the Seahawks.
Next up on Arizona’s depth chart is Emari Demercado, but Gannon wouldn’t commit to him being the team’s primary ball carrier. The coach said he expects Demercado, Michael Carter and Bam Knight all to play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Those three have combined for five carries for the Cardinals this season.
“I don’t know,” Gannon said. “We’ll see how kind of the week goes, but we obviously know we got to pick up that role but feel good about Bam and Emari and Mike Carter.”
Benson was the Cardinals’ leading rusher with 160 yards on 29 carries for an average of 5.5 yards per carry. He had not scored a touchdown.
Arizona also signed running back Jermar Jefferson to their practice squad Wednesday.
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