There was a time when Arizona Cardinals' David Johnson was one of the best running backs in football. Now, he struggles to get off the bench.

The Cardinals halfback injured his ankle in Week 7 and missed Weeks 8 and 9 as a result, but since returning in Week 10, he has only carried the ball 12 times.

It should be noted that the Cardinals had a bye in Week 12, so really, Johnson has carried the ball 12 times in five games.

The addition of Kenyan Drake is a big reason why Johnson's playing time has been so limited. Still, it's also not like Johnson has been burning it up when he has gotten touches, as he has rushed for just 336 yards and a couple of touchdowns while averaging 3.8 yards per carry on the season.

Most recently, Johnson totaled 19 yards off of three attempts in a Week 14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and general manager Steve Keim says he was impressed by Johnson's performance in that defeat:

“I thought last week he bounced back and played pretty well against the Steelers,” Keim said on the Doug and Wolf show on 98.7. “I thought he started to look like the old David, and I guess the next couple of weeks we want to see him continue to fight and compete. That's the way he's shown up every day in practice and I don't expect anything to change there.”

As for Johnson's future in Arizona?

“Those are the kind of conversations that will certainly be held internally,” Keim said. “I'm not going to have them on the radio. I will say this: We'll take a deep dive into this roster and take a look at every guy. Not only their contract situation but as I said earlier, identifying the core of players moving forward and making sure we can build around them.”

Johnson is under contract through 2021.