Should get bigger role sans Conner

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said Ingram and Corey Clement will be in store for increased roles in Sunday's game against the 49ers with top back James Conner (shin/knee) ruled out for the contest, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.

While Conner was sidelined for the entire fourth quarter of last week's win over the Falcons, Clement played 94 percent of the Cardinals' offensive snaps and carried five times for 25 yards in the final 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Ingram didn't garner any snaps on offense at any point during the contest, which suggests Clement may be the better bet of the two backs to pick up the Week 18 start and absorb most of Conner's snaps and touches. That being said, the Cardinals have more recent draft capital invested in Ingram, a sixth-round rookie, while the 28-year-old Clement has bounced around the league the past few seasons and profiles as more of a special-teams player at this stage of his career. With that in mind, it wouldn't be a complete surprise if Ingram carved out a larger role Sunday than expected, despite how he and Clement were deployed a week ago.