Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is not in line for surgery, head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Monday, Dec. 8, when asked if an operation on Murray’s injured foot is on the table.

“Not to my knowledge right now,” Gannon said.

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Murray is out for the season on injured reserve, having not played since Week 5.

Running back Trey Benson has been practicing, but his surgically repaired knee is not well enough to get him back into action. Time is running out on the Cardinals to activate him or leave Benson on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Benson was injured in Week 4, and the Cardinals have also been without running backs James Conner and Emari Demercado.

“We’ll see,” Gannon said. “Not quite sure yet. I hope he keeps making progress and turning the corner. I want to see him out there. When he’s ready to go, he’ll go.”

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Gannon didn’t have an update on left tackle Paris Johnson, defensive guard Bilal Nichols or safety Jalen Thompson.

All three left the Sunday, Dec. 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams with injuries. Nichols and Johnson with knee injuries and Thompson with a hamstring.

Analysis: Takeaways as Arizona Cardinals’ season hits another low in blowout

Pappoe’s playing time

Linebacker Owen Pappoe, a fifth-round draft pick in 2023, got his first major playing time on defense this season on Dec. 7. He played 35 snaps according to NFL.com, or 50% of the defensive plays for the Cardinals.

Pappoe has five solo tackles to lead Arizona. He also broke up a pass.

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“He did some good things in there, obviously a lot to learn from,” Gannon said of Pappoe, who is a key special teams contributor. “He’s been here for a couple of years now, so wanted to see him play. But he battled pretty good. “

Defense in review

Gannon was asked what he saw from the Cardinals’ defense that led to the Rams scoring 45 points.

“We didn’t stop the run, we got the ball thrown over our head, they played the game on their terms the entire day,” Gannon said.

The Rams took control in the first half and into the second, when they picked up 19 first downs on their first 35 plays, and only ran one third-down play in that stretch.

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The Cardinals didn’t get much pressure at all on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

“We never got to really pin our ears back and rush,” Gannon said. The Rams also had a lot of success running the ball.

The players were unhappy, Gannon said, but realize that the solutions to improving play are there; it’s just a matter of getting it done.

“We’ve got to stay on the details and make sure we’re coaching the players the right way,” Gannon said.

José M. Romero can be reached at jose.romero@gannett.com. Follow him on X at @RomeroJoseM or Instagram at @romerojosem.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals must make decision on injured RB Trey Benson soon