The leadership James Conner provides, a teammate better be watching for it.
The running back and one of the team captains last season isn't always going to be vocal. "Lead by example" is a cliché for a reason, and Conner prefers to be in that mold. Yet it adds impact to the words Conner does say.
"When he speaks it's heard," linebacker Dennis Gardeck said. "Every word is meaningful, and you know if there is something that needs to be corrected and he's correcting it, it's something that needs to be fixed now."
As Conner goes into his eighth season, his fourth with the Cardinals – and coming off his first 1,000-yard season as a pro – his wisdom matters. There are people others want to follow because of how they do things, how they approach a certain job. Conner has had that aura since he arrived.
He played with the steady Steelers the first part of his career, learning from veterans like Maurkice Pouncey and James Harrison about not only how to lead but to "be someone to bring people up." Tangibly, that is seen on game days when Conner's rugged running style might end with a primal scream, energizing his teammates.
"I'm living it so I guess you can say I'm manifesting it," Conner said.
Leading, Conner said, is a "great responsibility."
"It's just who I am," Conner said. "I want to turn things around out here. We have a great football team, we're coached really well, so we want that to reflect on our record and our play. I want to speak up."
This is the kind of player coach Jonathan Gannon wants in the locker room, and to inherit him was a bonus. Conner arrived during the Kliff Kingsbury regime and scored 18 touchdowns that first season in 2021. But perhaps more important was Conner's mindset through the rough 2022 season, through the coaching change, and then again through the bumpy times of Gannon's first season.
He has grown close to quarterback Kyler Murray, spending time on numerous outings (some of which have surfaced on social media.) Murray has made giant strides in his own leadership efforts, but there is a certain stamp of approval when Conner and he mesh so well.
"(Conner) truly cares about the team," Gannon said. "He puts himself behind the team. I would go to his actions on a daily basis -- he does everything you want him to do the right way.
"If I was telling my 8-year-old, 'Hey you come to practice' and you say, 'You look out there and you follow one guy,' he would be in that conversation."
Conner is going into the last season of the three-year deal he signed in 2022, a contract some questioned. But Conner's production -- on the field, off the field, as a leader -- made it a bargain.
Even in this space Conner shows leadership, downplaying his personal status as the Cardinals try to make a big jump in the win column.
"It would be awesome to finish my career here, but nothing changes," Conner said. "If anything, it's time to turn it up even more going into the last year of my deal. I'm thankful I got to see the last year of it, so I'll go into it with everything I got. We'll see what happens next year, hopefully stay, but I understand it's a business."
Perhaps underscoring Conner's mentality, when asked about rookie third-round pick Trey Benson – a draftee who could end up eventually taking Conner's role in the future – Conner smiled at working with his young mentee.
"He's like a sponge," Conner said. "He wants to know everything, asking questions."
Benson can help the team. And that's all Conner wants right now.
"(James) has kind of exceeded my expectations for what I thought he was going to be," Gannon said.
