Bruce Arian said Arizona Cardinals needed big, physical running back

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is on "Late Hits" with Alex Marvez every Tuesday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. On his latest appearance, he talked a little bit about the addition of newly signed veteran running back Michael Bush.

Arians indicated they "really miss" running back Jonathan Dwyer when he was asked about the addition of Bush.

What does Bush bring?

"I like our backs, but we need a guy that's going to pound it in there and close out some games and short yardage and goalline situations," Arians said on the air.

He indicated Bush is in great shape, but it might take a little longer to get him up to speed with the offense because they can only have three more padded practices the rest of the season. They will not put on pads in practice this week.

It will be interesting to see how many carries Bush will get.

Dwyer carried the ball 16 times in the first two games of the season before his year was over, being placed on NFI after he was charged with domestic abuse. In those first two games, Ellington got 63 percent of the carries.

Since Dwyer's exit from the roster, there has not been much of a split when it comes to carries for running backs.

Ellington has since gotten over 80 percent of the carries and in only one game after Week 2 has he averaged more than four yards a carry.

It sounds like Bush will be put in the role that Dwyer once had. He will get the ball in short yardage situations and also late in the game when they want to wear down the defense.

Arizona next plays the Atlanta Falcons, who allow over 120 yards a game on the ground and over four yards a carry.