Cardinals Name Rookie Carson Beck Their Starting QB Against the Rams
Arizona turns to its third starting quarterback in three weeks after Gardner Minshew's season-ending elbow injury and the Jacoby Brissett trade
It's official: Carson Beck will make his first NFL start Sunday. Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur announced Wednesday that the rookie quarterback will start against the Rams, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported, making Beck Arizona's third starter in as many weeks.
It's Carson Beck time in Arizona. Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur announces Beck will start for Arizona on Sunday vs. the Rams. Arizona going on its third starter in as many weeks.View on X →
Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN): It's Carson Beck time in Arizona. Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur announces Beck will start for Arizona on Sunday vs. the Rams. Arizona going on its third starter in as many weeks.
LaFleur also confirmed that Gardner Minshew will have surgery on the torn UCL in his throwing elbow and is done for the season. Minshew was seeking additional opinions after getting hurt on the last play of the first half of Sunday's 17-3 loss in Seattle, an injury he somehow played through for the entire second half. That was his first start of the season, after he came off the bench a week earlier to lead a 33-30 overtime comeback in Dallas and Arizona then traded Jacoby Brissett, its starter for the first eight games, to Baltimore.
That leaves the job to Beck, the former Georgia and Miami quarterback, who spent the first eight weeks as the emergency third quarterback before moving up to QB2 last week. LaFleur said of the rookie that "he's ready to roll," and he said Tuesday the offense won't look much different with Beck under center.
"It's not like it's the difference between a wing-T offense and a spread offense," LaFleur said. "Foundationally, we're going to do a lot of the similar stuff and a lot of the stuff that Carson likes and is good at is the same stuff that Gardner likes."
Beck won't have much help at receiver. Arizona already lost Michael Wilson for the season with a fractured vertebra, and the club placed both Minshew and Wilson on injured reserve this week while working out veteran quarterbacks for depth.
The Cardinals (3-6) host the division-rival Rams on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1:05 PM PT. Los Angeles will be without star receiver Puka Nacua, who is out with knee and toe injuries.