‘Got to be confident’: Carson Beck said experience in spotlight, preparation will help in NFL debut

TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck was pacing in his backyard on Monday, telling whichever friends and family members he could get ahold of that his time had come.

Beck will make his NFL debut on Sunday, starting for the Cardinals against the Los Angeles Rams at State Farm Stadium.

The last time he played in Glendale, Beck crossed the goal line with 18 seconds left to send Miami to the National Championship Game by defeating Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl. Beck called it maybe his favorite game of his career so far.

Between starting at Georgia and Miami, Beck has been in the national spotlight frequently over the past three years, which he believes helped him prepare for this moment.

When asked about fear, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said that will not be an issue for his young quarterback. But as he put it, you can never quite know what to expect from someone until he enters an NFL game for the first time.

“Obviously, it’s a lot different now being in the NFL,” Beck said on Wednesday. “Just be myself, be there for my teammates, be selfless, do what I can for everyone around me and ultimately, go out there and give my best effort, have confidence and be relentless. … When you fear failure or you fear not having the result you want, that’s when emotions get in the way. So I think just being comfortable with not knowing the outcome and shooting your shot is how you handle those emotions.”

In Beck’s first game, he will look out to a defense with Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett ready to come for him while he is working with a banged-up offensive line and decimated wide receivers corps. It is not ideal, but for Beck, this is an opportunity of the lifetime, and he has gone about his business preparing as such.

He lost out on playing time in training camp due to a ribs injury, but he found ways to build up mental reps, using skills he learned as a backup with Georgia for three years before he took the reins of the national powerhouse.

“I’m not going to be the one out there during practice actually doing it post-snap, but I can do everything that the starting quarterback is doing pre-snap,” Beck said. “I can hear the call in the helmet. I can say it out loud to somebody or myself, and then that’s really all I can do and control, right?

“So doing that throughout the offseason, through training camp, through the season, if I was healthy or not healthy, that is something I could control. During practice, after practice just going over the script, walking through plays in my head, just mental imagery of what would I do in this situation, that situation. That’s the preparation part of it.”

This week will be his first putting that mental work to the test. He gets all of the physical reps with LaFleur’s playbook for the first time, preparing for his first game action since Aug. 6.

Cardinals’ Carson Beck assessment hits next level

The Cardinals’ quarterbacks room two weeks ago was completely different.

Jacoby Brissett was the starter, Gardner Minshew the backup and Beck the emergency third-stringer. On Wednesday, Beck was on the practice field with recently signed quarterbacks Josh Johnson and Joey Aguilar after Brissett was traded and Minshew placed on injured reserve.

Beck called this a “welcome to the NFL” sort of season.

This is a big moment not only for Beck but for the organization.

Arizona is 3-6 and has not won a home game since Week 2 of 2025, and now a rookie quarterback who fans are curious about gets the next shot to end that losing streak. If Beck does it, he will win a lot of fans over pretty quickly.

If Beck shows signs of promise, that could give a team beaten down with bad injury news some juice in the second half of the season.

The Cardinals also have to evaluate Beck before deciding whether to take a quarterback in the first round of the draft next spring. Beck was a third-round pick, not a top-five, bona fide prospect. Assessing someone with such little experienced help around him could be a difficult assignment for the organization, but that is life in the NFL.

“You’re assessing everybody, whether it’s their first start or their 50th start,” LaFleur said. “Each game is a life of its own. I’m more just looking forward to just watching him go operate, go play each play as its own. Learn, grow, grow within a game, grow within a series. I know this isn’t too big for him.”

Carson Beck building chemistry

Beck feels it will be important to exude confidence to bring the most out of his teammates, as well. He has spent time with tight end Trey McBride, picking his top target’s brain and getting a feel for how to best take advantage of having such a weapon.

McBride said the two have bonded over the fact that McBride’s college head coach at Colorado State, Mike Bobo, became Beck’s offensive coordinator at Georgia.

The quarterback has also stacked reps with receivers who started the year buried on the depth chart but have been elevated out of necessity.

“He’s played a lot of football in his career, and I have a ton of confidence going into this game with him,” McBride said. “Ever since he’s been here, we’ve hung out outside of football. … I knew he was coming down the tunnel, so just trying to pick his brain as much as I can, figure out how he sees the game.”

Beck said film study is integral to knowing what to expect, but the game can move quickly, defenses have disguises that do not exist in college. Even McBride said he does not know what to expect from defenses trying to take him away after injuries to wide receivers Michael Wilson and Kendrick Bourne.

Debuting is hard enough as it is, with Cardinals radio broadcaster J.P. Shadrick posting a thread that the Cardinals are 1-5-1 in their last seven games with quarterbacks making their first starts.

So even though Beck has experience in big games, how will he manage all of the unknowns?

“I think the biggest thing is not to get too caught up in watching the film and trying to be perfect,” Beck said. “Once you are out there, once you do have the opportunity, just go play quarterback and go have fun and react to what they’re doing.

“They’re going to get you sometimes. You’ve just got to be able to make the plays when you do get them. … And you got to go out there and be confident and have swag, have moxie, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what happened the play before. You got to be in the present moment.”

LaFleur said Beck’s understanding of the system and his feet have improved since he arrived after the draft. McBride complimented Beck’s ability to go through his reads quickly.

The Rams are a difficult first test, one that may require patience for Beck, the organization and the fanbase. But it will make the rest of this season about finding out what exactly the Cardinals have here.

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