Who Should I Start? Wayne Gallman or James Conner

Tuesday, November 3, 3:14 PM

Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said that veteran running back James Conner (foot) will not come off Injured Reserve to play against the division-rival Seattle Seahawks in Week 9, per Darren Urban of the team's official website. Arizona's backfield is suddenly very thin after the team placed rookie first-rounder Jeremiyah Love (ankle) on IR this week, and with Bam Knight in the league's concussion protocol after suffering a head injury in the overtime upset of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Tyler Allgeier will be the Cardinals' lead back this weekend in Seattle, with Evan Hull and Jerome Ford set to back him up. Although the 31-year-old Conner will not be back this week, the Cardinals still think he has a chance to return in 2026 as he continues to work his way back from a right-foot injury that limited him to three games last year. The next step is for Conner to return to practice, but it does not look like that is going to happen this week. His next chance to make his season debut will come in Week 10, when the Cardinals take on the division-rival Los Angeles Rams. When/if Conner returns to Arizona's backfield, he is expected to be a change-of-pace option and not a candidate for a heavy workload.