The Cardinals had brought in four kickers for tryouts after they knew Matt Prater was likely to miss time with a hip injury. Of those kickers, Matt Ammendola was the most accurate and consistent "by far," GM Steve Keim said.

It made sense to keep Ammendola around with Prater still hurting this week, Keim said Friday during an appearance on the "Burns and Gambo" show on Arizona Sports 98.7, even after Ammendola missed a 43-yard field goal with 20 seconds left that would have sent the game against the Eagles into overtime.

"It's easy to say, 'Hey let's change out to change out,' but all of a sudden you could have another guy stepping in and missing extra points," Keim said. "There is also something to be said in the NFL with timing with the snapper and the holder. I just think it was in our best interests to stay with the same guy."

The hope is that Prater will be back next week against the Saints.

"At the same time, (Ammendola) has got to make that kick," Keim said. "That's what professional kickers do. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and we have to make sure we do the best moving forward. It's a tough situation. It's not one guy. The offense starting slow again adds to the problems. You can't put it on one person even though we know as a professional, someone should make that kick."

-- Keim said missing James Conner and Darrel Williams "there is some concern" with the running backs room, but he likes what Eno Benjamin brings to the starting job. He is also anxious to see rookie Keaontay Ingram, who was kept on the roster even though there wasn't a chance he was going to play without injuries.

"Number one he's a draft pick and number two he's a talented player," Keim said. "To me you never put those guys on the wire and take a chance they may go somewhere else."

-- On the end of game Murray slide against the Eagles that ended up short of the first down: "It's a bang-bang play. I think it's one of those learning lessons where you look back, and it's a painful learning lesson because of the repercussions. But at the same time it is something we can grow with with a young quarterback and head coach and make sure it doesn't happen again."

-- Keim said the slow starts have to get better on offense and was asked if the return of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will "fix it all."

"As much as we paid him it better fix it all," Kerim deadpanned. "That was a joke to Hop. I can needle him a little bit. When you are negotiating with a player it can be interesting to say the least. Me and Hop had some spirited conversations.

"But I do think the world of him, I think he'll be a great addition and put some energy and add some excitement to the offense."