SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, fresh off a late-game loss to the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, laid out the goal for the Cardinals' running game heading into a short week without starting running back James Conner.
"We got to continue to go," Murray said in a somber moment Sunday. "We got to continue to get better and we got to be able to run the ball."
Conner will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, opening the door for a rotation of running backs to get more playing time.
Trey Benson is next up on Arizona's depth chart, followed by Emari Demercado and Bam Knight. Michael Carter, who had 131 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries last season with the Cardinals, is on the practice squad but another option to be part of the rotation should Arizona want four active running backs.
Benson, who has 125 yards on 21 carries to complement eight catches for 45 yards this season, said he'll be prepared to be the Cardinals' main ball carrier.
"I don't have a choice," he said. "I'm going to do it for [Conner]. He's going to be my motivation for the rest of the year and I can't wait."
Benson called Conner a mentor and said Conner helped him get to this point.
"I feel like I'll be ready for the task," Benson said.
Demercado, who got the majority of his carries last season on third down, thinks the biggest difference for him without Conner in the lineup will be the number of snaps he receives in practices and games. He won't have a change in mentality or approach now that he'll be getting more playing time.
"So I think I'll just be more prepared naturally," Demercado said.
He also doesn't think Arizona's running game will change all that much going forward.
"I think we're good at what we do," Demercado said. "So, we just got to stick with that no matter who's on the ball."
Gannon felt the Cardinals' running backs corps responded well after Conner's injury despite their roles changing.
Benson, a second-year running back out of Florida, filled in as the primary ball carrier after Conner went down with 12:26 left in the third quarter and finished with 10 carries for 42 yards including a 29-yard run. Demercado didn't finish with any yards on two carries.
The Cardinals' run game has yet to get unlocked this season.
Through three games, Arizona has run 77 times for 334 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 4.65 yards per carry and 114 yards per game -- ranked 12th and tied for 13th in the league, respectively.
Through three games last season, Arizona's run game outpaced this year's stats, running 83 times for 432 yards and two touchdowns with averages of 5.2 yards per carry and 144 yards per game.
Despite wanting his run game to find a rhythm this week, it didn't, coach Jonathan Gannon said.
"The runs that are going for nothing, we have to be more efficient with those," Gannon said. "So, I don't know how many of those were, but it felt like a lot of times it was second-and-10 after a run. It sets you behind the sticks.
"So, just got to do a little bit better."
Without Conner, a backbone of the locker room and the focal point of the ground game, those who are filling his shoes want to do it for him.
"You just got to regather yourself," Demercado said, "try to keep going. Do it for him."