Hard Knocks Won't Reveal Eno Benjamin Release

Drama has been a big part of the Arizona Cardinals' regular season, making it almost a perfect pairing for HBO's in-season Hard Knocks series.

Two episodes have now been released, and barely any of the drama that surrounded the team has made the final cut of filming. Chalk it up to either HBO taking it one week at a time or the Cardinals having their way with creative control: Some important, juicy scenes have been omitted for viewing pleasure.

That includes the sudden release of running back Eno Benjamin last week. Benjamin reportedly was upset with playing time and made it vocal with coaches, ultimately leading to his departure.

Benjamin was released on Monday, giving HBO just two days until their actual release day of Wednesday to plug something in. Although they could have at least made a mention or previewed it for next week, cutting that film in such a tight window is tough.

Hard Knocks series director Terrell Riley jumped on the PHNX Cardinals podcast shortly after the second episode and said fans would definitely want to tune into what is now this week's upcoming release for what was deemed a "shocking" moment.

That was last week. Now, that won't happen.

The Arizona Republic's Bob McManaman reported no scenes from Benjamin's release would be shown. Mainly because there were no scenes for it.

An update on HBO and NFL Films' "Hard Knocks - In Season with the Arizona Cardinals: There will be no scenes in this week's episode documenting RB Eno Benjamins release.
— Bob McManaman (@azbobbymac) November 21, 2022

"We simply did not capture anything," Trout said to McManaman. "... Some things do happen away from the cameras and that was the case here."

Trout also said another director's recent comment on a local Phoenix podcast in which he said something "shocking" was coming were "spun into an expectation that we would be showing something that does not exist. Mistakes happen. That was an innocent one."
— Bob McManaman (@azbobbymac) November 21, 2022

Having no scenes - with cameras and microphones aligned in every corner - might be a bit hard to believe. That may be the tinfoil hat speaking, though.

It will be interesting to see how HBO intertwines - if at all- Benjamin's departure into the near-hour installment coming on Wednesday night.

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