Cardinals HC Steve Wilks to watch tape before choosing starting QB
Sep 23, 2018, 6:04 PM | Updated: 9:41 pm
Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks pauses on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
(AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
After quarterback Sam Bradford committed three turnovers in the second half and the Bears went on a 16-0 run to take the lead, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen made his rookie debut.
Rosen, who entered the game with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, failed to score in either of his two drives.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is uncertain about who will start at quarterback going forward.
We’re going to evaluate Josh as well as Sam,” he said. “We’ll watch the tape and we’ll see exactly what i want to do for us moving forward.”
He’ll have two versions of Bradford to observe.
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Bradford’s statline was remakable in his first three drives of the game, going 4-for-5 with 92 yards and two touchdowns.
It’s worth noting that many of those throws, including both touchdowns, went to wide-open receivers.
Over the rest of the game, Bradford went 9-for-14 with 65 yards.
He threw two interceptions in the third quarter and then fumbled while running the ball in the fourth quarter, which allowed the Bears to get possession and make a go-ahead field goal.
There was 4:31 left in the game.
“I felt like we needed a spark,” Wilks said. “We got out to an early start, 14 points, got a little stagnant there, and I wanted to try to spark the team.”
Enter the No. 10 pick in the NFL draft.
Like Bradford, there were two sides to Rosen’s performance.
Thrown straight into the fire to lead a Cardinals comeback, Rosen completed his first two passes and displayed some accuracy and arm strength. However, he also overthrew a receiver and underthrew another that resulted in an interception.
Play calling didn’t help him. On third-and-two with two minutes left, the Cardinals elected to hand the ball off to running back Chase Edmonds instead of David Johnson, who lost three yards.
On a fourth-and-five, Rosen threw an interception.
He also nearly threw a pick-six that was only called back because of an offside penalty.
Wilks called the rookie “inconsistent,” but praised him for playing in the situation he was in.
“Under the circumstances right there, being thrown into the game at that time, I thought he did well,” Wilks said.
Rosen walked away from the game without a win, but he got NFL experience.
“I guess you could say (I’m) kinda content that I got to get out there and sort of understand that, kind of get the feel of a real NFL game, but I definitely could play a lot better so I’m looking forward to getting better in the weeks to come,” he said.
Now the question becomes: At 0-3, will the Cardinals turn to the apparent quarterback of the future? Or will they stick with the man they paid big money this offseason?
