Cardinals leaders: Brissett decisions allow Carson Beck to move forward in his development

TEMPE — The “perfect storm” arrived for the Arizona Cardinals to act swiftly in trading quarterback Jacoby Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens.

The Cardinals benched Brissett on Sunday and moved him down the depth chart on Monday, while the Ravens placed superstar Lamar Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley on injured reserve Wednesday. By Friday, the deal was finalized.

Arizona’s move to demote Brissett and move him opened the door to more reps for rookie Carson Beck, whose development on the practice field was a noteworthy factor in the decisions made this week. Gardner Minshew will start for the Cardinals on Sunday with Beck as his backup.

“Part of this allows us to continue Carson’s development,” general manager Monti Ossenfort said on Friday. “I think when you have a quarterback situation the way it was constituted for the first couple months of the season, it’s hard to always find reps.

“There’s only so much practice time to go around. … Listen, there’s no replication for game reps. There isn’t. … Carson’s stepped up with his increased workload, so we’re going to continue with that and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Can Carson Beck get ready for a game with more practice?

Beck is one play away from being thrust into his first NFL game after he was an inactive observer through the first eight weeks. He last took in-game reps during the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 6, a full three months ago, before a rib injury ended his preseason.

The rookie is now making up for some lost time as the scout team quarterback, moving around in the pocket, reading coverages and getting his timing down in practice. The more he takes the assignment seriously, the better prepared both the defense and he will be on Sundays.

Quarterbacks coach Matt Schaub credited Beck for being diligent, saying you get out of it what you put in.

“As long as you’re approaching it the right way and treating those things as if — it’s third-and-4 on yesterday, am I treating this like it’s third-and-4 in the game? And if you have that mindset, your muscle memory will wire in and you’ll be in a good spot,” Schaub said on Friday.

“If you’re just going through the motions and throwing it into coverage because the defense is asking you to, then you’re not helping yourself.”

Schaub was once a young quarterback playing behind Michael Vick in Atlanta before getting traded to start for the Houston Texans, so he has been on the other side of this situation before.

Schaub said knowing when a young quarterback is ready is more of a “feel thing” for a coaching staff than anything especially tangible.

Head coach Mike LaFleur said there are different shapes and sizes when it comes to managing young quarterbacks.

There is an infrastructure and a readiness element for the player, physically and mentally.

What is tricky about this situation is Beck is not the anointed quarterback of the future like No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza in Las Vegas, for example. Nor is he sitting behind a quarterback who will be the starter for multiple seasons like Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, when Cardinals offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was there.

Beck is a third-round pick on a team that has uncertainty when looking at the future of the quarterback position, but the Brissett benching, and especially trade, signal the Cardinals are prepared to find out what he can provide at “the drop of a hat.”

“Gardner comes in and does a fantastic job, hadn’t had a lot of reps with the ones and still was able to execute,” Hackett said on Thursday. “I look at Carson and he’s doing a lot of the same stuff.

“He doesn’t have the experience, but just how he prepares, how he works everything, what he does in scout team with the drastic speed change, he’s done a fine job. We’ll find out at some point whenever he goes in, or maybe not for a long time.”

When asked whether the changes made this week paves the way for Beck to show what he can do, LaFleur kept his day-to-day outlook.

“I think the practice reps are first and foremost,” LaFleur said. “He’ll be able to rack that up, but not really paving the way to anything. We’re just trying to pave away this red zone plan today to go execute versus Seattle on Sunday because that’s going to be hard enough.”

The Cardinals received a 2027 fourth-round pick and 2028 seventh-round pick from Baltimore for Brissett and a 2027 fifth-rounder.

Ossenfort said the Cardinals would have moved forward with Brissett in the third quarterback role, but an opportunity presented itself to add value.

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