The Sports Xchange

Head coach Bruce Arians, displeased with the performance of his running backs this season, could get his wish — a veteran running back to boost the Arizona Cardinals’ offense.

The Cardinals are in discussions with veteran Chris Johnson, who played for the New York Jets last season. The former first-round pick spent the majority of his career with the Tennessee Titans.

Arians said Monday he would discuss his concerns with the running back position with general manager Steve Keim Monday night.

Incumbent starter Andre Ellington was ineffective last season due to injuries and already is hobbled. He missed most of the first week with a sore hamstring and was limited in practice on Monday. Third-round pick David Johnson, drafted to help take pressure off of Ellington by lightening his workload, and backup Marion Grice are not practicing because of hamstring injuries.

“I’m not pleased with the time that he (Ellington) and David have lost,” Arians said, “and I wasn’t that fired up about the running backs’ performances Saturday. (The) ball was on the ground, not hitting holes. I thought we should have scored on a couple of those runs where we were one-on-one with the safety and the backside linebacker and we get stopped.”

David Johnson, at 6-1, 224, is the ideal back in Arians’ system. He shopped for a “big back” last year after Jonathan Dwyer left the team, and used a number of players while Ellington was playing injured.