Running backs are a major component of the Cardinals offense

The Arizona Cardinals should finally have James Conner and Chase Edmonds healthy and ready to roll for their postseason run.

Over the past couple of months, the rushing attack of the Arizona Cardinals has rarely been at full strength.

Chase Edmonds, a fourth-round pick of the Cards back in 2018, suffered a high-ankle sprain back on November 7. The setback would keep the 5-foot-9, 210-pounder out of four matchups until he finally returned to action on December 19.

James Conner, a brilliant free-agent pickup of the Cardinals this past offseason, was handed a full workload during Edmonds’ absence. The 6-foot-1, 233-pounder ultimately broke down, and he has now missed the last two contests with a heel injury.

Just when it appeared that Edmonds was getting back on a roll, the 25-year-old seemed to be favoring his ribs during the latter stages of Arizona’s Week 17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The former Fordham University product managed to remain in the game, but he was obviously in a lot of pain.

Arizona Cardinals could be without their top two ball-carriers in Week 18

The status for both Conner and Edmonds is up in the air for this coming Sunday’s regular-season finale versus the Seattle Seahawks. The NFC West title is still a possibility for the Redbirds, but having both players healthy for the upcoming playoff matchup is the No. 1 priority for Cards head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

"“We’re going to try to be smart. We’ll see how they progress the next couple of days. I don’t know exactly how much we’ll use them, but we want to make sure they’re ready for the playoffs.”"

Arizona has not had the luxury of having both Conner and Edmonds on the field together too often over the second half of the 2021 campaign. The thought of being able to do that when the postseason gets underway must sound awfully enticing for the Cardinals, especially for Kingsbury, who could come up with some mighty inventive play-calls for the talented duo.

"“That’s when we’ve been at our best, when both of those guys are healthy and getting to take snaps off of each other. We’d like to get back to that. I’d love for them to both play in this game [Seattle], but we’re definitely going to be smart.”"

The Cards still have a chance to win a division championship this coming weekend, so Conner and Edmonds will both play if they are healthy enough to do so. If not, one or both ball-carriers will sit. As of now, both Conner and Edmonds are day-to-day so we’ll know a whole lot more by the end of the week.