Report: Cardinals' James Conner Will Play vs. Falcons After IR Stint for Knee Injury

The Arizona Cardinals will have significant reinforcements on their offense for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, James Conner will play against the Falcons after being designated to return from injured reserve earlier this week.

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon already announced Kyler Murray will make his season debut on Sunday.

Conner was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 10, two days after he suffered a knee injury in Arizona's 34-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The move ensured he would have to sit out at least four games.

The Cardinals designated Conner to return from IR on Wednesday. It allowed him a 21-day practice window before the team had to decide if he could play in games, or be shut down for the remainder of the season.

Conner apparently didn't need that much time to show he was healthy. The 28-year-old was officially listed as questionable after being a limited practice participant all week.

Getting Conner and Murray back in the same game will provide a huge boost to an Arizona offense that struggled to get going for most of the season. The unit ranks 26th in the NFL in yards (289.7) and 28th in points (16.8) per game.

In last week's 27-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns, the Cardinals gained a total of 58 yards with rookie Clayton Tune at quarterback. The combination of Keaontay Ingram, Rondale Moore and Tony Jones had 13 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Conner was one of the best running backs in the league prior to his injury. He's averaging a career-high 5.4 yards per attempt on 68 carries and still ranks third on the team with 394 yards from scrimmage despite not playing in the past four games.

Even if the Cardinals don't give Conner a full workload in his first game back, his presence in the backfield will provide a significant lift to a rushing attack that has struggled in his absence.

The Cardinals are hosting the Falcons at State Farm Stadium on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET.