The Arizona Cardinals will only have two running backs suiting up against the New York Giants. D.J. Foster has been ruled out of the game. That leaves David Johnson and Chase Edmonds as the only ones who will play, and Johnson, although he is expected to play, has been dealing with an ankle injury.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury indicated on Friday that should something happen and Johnson is unable to play, they would have an emergency plan.
The most logical solution is off the board right now. They could have promoted running back Justin Davis from the practice squad. They didn’t.
So what would the plan be?
The most obvious would be to run the ball very little and rely heavily on the passing game.
The issue would be if Edmonds needed to come off the field.
The Cardinals have run a few formations this season with four receivers and one tight end — zero running backs. They have also run a couple of plays with five receivers and no backs or tight ends.
The Cardinals could also potentially use receivers Pharoh Cooper or Andy Isabella in the backfield as well. Cooper took a direct snap last week and Isabella has only been used so far on running plays.
The Cardinals do have options. They just aren’t great options.
However, since Johnson is expected to play and he said his ankle as of Friday felt good, it is unlikely this scenario even arises.
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