Kliff Kingsbury knew running back Eno Benjamin needed to kick off Sunday, because kicker Matt Prater was hurting. But he didn’t see Benjamin race down the field after kicking it and tackle the return man.
So how did the Cardinals coach find out?
“I heard him,” Kingsbury deadpanned during his day-after press conference Monday. “He said, ‘They’re not blocking the kicker!’ So I knew it was him.”
Benjamin, the one-time soccer player and current soccer junkie, had been told by special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers to essentially be a safety after booting the ball. That’s what kickers do, protecting in case the return man finds a hole.
There was a hole, as it turned out. And Benjamin decided it would be better for him to use it instead.
“A void opened up and I was like, ‘I gotta take it,’ ” Benjamin said. “It ended up working out.
“It wasn’t the greatest hit. The defense was a little more fired up. Markus Golden was hugging me and jumping with me, which got me going as well.”
The two kickoffs were cool for Benjamin, but the reality is Prater’s bad right hip is a problem.
The Cardinals will bring in multiple kickers for workouts, likely signing one to at least the practice squad to hedge against Prater’s situation, Kingsbury said. (ESPN reported that ex-Colts kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was among the candidates.) Prater did boot two field goals (from 33 and 39 yards) and two extra points before the Cardinals brought Benjamin in for kickoffs and tried a two-point conversion after their final touchdown.
Prater is “a little sore,” Kingsbury said. “Eno did what he could.”
The last time the Cardinals needed an emergency kickoff, it came back in 2001. Bill Gramatica made a field goal in the first half, leaped to celebrate as was his custom, and when he landed he blew out the ACL in his plant leg.
Pat Tillman ended up kicking off for the Cardinals that day, just a few months removed and a few miles away from the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Benjamin, who played soccer – he was a striker – through his sophomore year of high school, “won” a kicking competition with guard Will Hernandez in camp to be the emergency kicker. That’s what Benjamin thinks, although he admitted that since his kickoffs came after Hernandez was ejected on Sunday, “he could’ve still be the No. 2.”
Was it true Hernandez was close to beating out Eno, Kliff? “Ummmm,” Kingsbury said, pausing for a moment. “Not that close.”
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