There was a time last season when retirement was running through the mind of Michael Carter.
After not making the active roster in 2024 and spending the first 15 weeks on the practice squad, his hope dwindled. The running back wasn't sure if he'd even appear in a game. This season, he found himself on the practice squad yet again after final cuts.
But now, after a season-ending injury to James Conner and Trey Benson going on Injured Reserve, Carter will get the chance for which he's been dreaming.
"You go from Pat Tillman (scout team player of the week honor) one week to starting the next," Carter said. "It's a lot. You can sit here and act like it's not, but it's kind of a lot."
Carter will find himself sharing time with Emari Demercado and perhaps Bam Knight, two players who made the initial 53-man roster and officially sit ahead of Carter on the depth chart. On Thursday night, Demercado logged 26 snaps, his most since Week 6 last year. Knight has not played an offensive snap yet, playing only special teams in his two games.
Knight and Carter had spent time together with the Jets. "They don't talk about him enough," Carter said. "He's a good player."
Demercado, excellent in pass protection, had been the Cardinals' third-down back the past two seasons. When Conner and Benson were healthy, Benson took that role, and Demercado's offensive duties shrunk considerably. He moved back to third downs last week -- the first without Conner -- and now the Cardinals need him to step forward again.
It's unclear if he'll slide into the lead back role or continue to be a late-down back.
"I don't really know what my role is going to be as far as play time," Demercado said. "That's not for me to decide. I've just got to prepare as I always do and obviously be ready for a bigger role."
Injuries haven't helped, but the Cardinals rushing attack has been quiet throughout the first four games of the season. Entering Sunday's game against the Titans, the Cardinals are 22nd with 105.8 rushing yards per game. They finished the 2024 season in the top ten with 144.2 rushing yards per game and second in the league with 5.29 yards per play.
The Titans defense is ranked 28th in the league allowing over 140 rushing yards per game.
The absence of Conner and Benson might shift things for the offense as they search for answers. Against the Seahawks, the offense leaned heavily into 11 personnel, running plays out of the formation over 80 percent of the time. Left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. said the running game improvement has to start with the offensive line, but there will be some adjustment with new ballcarriers behind them.
"It feels like losing someone on the offensive line because you know how they run, how they push it, and you have that connection of how they are going to play off a certain assignment," Johnson said. "We're not going to sit here and think the run game is gone. We have two more guys that are going to be killers for us up front and I'm excited for the world to see them do their thing."
Both Demercado and Carter have faced their fair share of obstacles. Demercado, an undrafted rookie in 2023, ended last season on Injured Reserve and had a critical drop against the 49ers this season. But on a similar route a few days later, he scored a touchdown against the Seahawks.
"You always are excited to get more opportunities," Demercado said. "You just got to make the most of it. If you get that opportunity, you take it and run with it."
Carter, who played against Seattle as a practice-squad elevation before being signed to the active roster this week, is more blunt. "The chip on my shoulder is gigantic right now" after all this practice squad time. The difference between this go-around has been a message from an old coach.
"If your mind is in the past, you get left in the past," Carter said.
There's an opportunity to add a spark to the offense, whether it be Demercado, Knight, or Carter. Gone are Carter's thoughts of hanging it up. That's in the past.
"The only way past the adversity is you got to go through it. Can't run from it," Carter said. "You might as well go through it and do what you want to do. But I love football. I'm not really built for a desk job."
