Arizona Cardinals RB Ryan Williams out for season

The Cardinals already are without Beanie Wells until at least Thanksgiving weekend because of a severe turf toe injury.

The hard-luck Williams missed all of his rookie season a year ago with a torn patella tendon. He injured his shoulder on a hard hit during last Thursday night's loss at St. Louis.

The injury leaves Arizona with running backs LaRod Stephens-Howling, William Powell and Alfonso Smith. Stephens-Howling missed the last two weeks with a hip flexor.

The Cardinals are 4-1 despite their virtual lack of any ground game. They rank 31st out of 32 NFL teams in yards rushing per game at 63.4. Only Oakland's 60.8 is worse.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt revealed the extent of the injury in his brief meeting with reporters following the team's light workout on Monday.

"The timetable for recovery is probably three months, so that puts him out for the season," Whisenhunt said.

Asked if the team would look to bring in a running back from elsewhere, he said, "We'll look and see."

"I feel good about the guys that we've got," the coach said. "We're always going to look to get better at every position. If that opportunity is there, then we'll certainly try to act on it."

Arizona opened the season believing that its ground game would be a strength with Wells and Williams providing a solid 1-2 punch. Now that punch is down to 0-0.

"That's the NFL," Whisenhunt said. "Teams have to fight through adversity and keep going. We've done a good job of that the first five weeks of the season, and now we've got another challenge, but that's OK. We'll work through it."