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    • RB James Conner’s message to Cardinals received in MNF win
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    RB James Conner’s message to Cardinals received in MNF win

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    • Josh Weinfuss, ESPN staff writerOctober 22, 2024, 3:28 AM ET

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        Josh Weinfuss is a staff writer covering the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL at ESPN. Josh has covered the Cardinals since 2012 and joined ESPN in 2013. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and a graduate of Indiana University. You can follow him on Twitter @joshweinfuss.

    GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sunday night, during the Arizona Cardinals team meeting ahead of Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers, running back James Conner stood up in front of his teammates and coaches and started talking about maximizing the opportunities that awaited them.

    It worked.

    Behind Conner’s 152 all-purpose yards, the Cardinals avenged an embarrassing 21-point loss a week ago in Green Bay with a 17-15 win over the Chargers on Monday Night Football thanks to a last-second 32-yard field goal by kicker Chad Ryland.

    “I thought it was lights out,” coach Jonathan Gannon said of Conner. “There’s been a lot of times where he’s gotten four yards, but that should probably be one or two.

    “He put the team on his back today and carried us home.”

    Conner’s hope was to inspire a team on the move that was at a breaking point. A loss would have moved the Cardinals to 2-5, but a win moved them to 3-4 and moved them into a tie for second place in the NFC West. He told his teammates that the 2-4 going into the match was just a snapshot, Gannon explained.

    His message Sunday night was simple but powerful.

    “I’m just telling them all their chips in for this week, that we’re still on a mission, to tell the guys not to take anything for granted and just play good football,” Conner said. “Put all your chips in this week, give it everything you’ve got.

    “We have some guys on the team who don’t want to play anymore this season, and they wish they could be there and just play hard. So yeah, I told them to play hard and put in all their chips to just get a win this week.”

    That’s what Arizona did. Conner ran for 101 yards on Monday, his third 100-yard game of the season, and caught two passes for 51 yards, including a 33-yard gain in the fourth quarter that set up the game-winning field goal.

    His 152 scrimmage yards and his 7.2 yards per touch average were both season highs. In the process, Conner became the first player to eclipse 100 yards against the Chargers. He also forced a fumble after quarterback Kyler Murray threw an early interception to Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart. Michael Wilson recovered and Arizona kept the ball with another set of downs.

    When the usually reserved Conner talks, Murray says it carries extra weight.

    “Not a lot of volume, but the substance behind it and what he preaches, whoever,” Murray said. “When you get up there and pour your heart out, the guys feel it.”

    Conner chose this week of all weeks to address the team because of the way the season has unfolded. Arizona has had a rollercoaster of a journey so far, winning almost every other game. As one of Arizona’s captains, Conner felt he had to “rally the troops.”

    His timing was perfect. The Cardinals had a week of physical, violent and tough practice on Thursday that reminded Gannon of training camp or OTA practice. Players, Gannon said, were “a little frustrated.”

    Friday was a similar workout, followed by a “really good” practice game on Saturday and a walk-through on Sunday that saw the offense “on point,” Gannon said.

    “There were no blunders,” Gannon said of Monday morning’s preparation. “Those guys are locked in. I knew we were going to play well. We knew it was going to be a good game against a good team.

    ‘But I think the most important thing is that you just have to take control of your day and just keep accumulating good days. And our behavior is good, but now we have to keep it going. It needs to be translated because we are good enough where it can be translated. I know that.”

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