Cardinals coach not ready to name starter for Seattle
Dec 3, 2012, 6:27 PM | Updated: 7:01 pm
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley has started two games for the team — and played in three. He’s completed 50-of-103 passes for 448 yards with no touchdowns and five interceptions.
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt would not pull Lindley from Sunday’s game, where he completed 10-of-31 passes for 72 yards with an interception in a 7-6 loss to the Jets.
However, that does not mean the sixth-round pick will get the nod when the team takes on the Seahawks next Sunday.
“We’ve got to look at it with the players today and understand why we had the breakdowns that we did, why we weren’t successful on some of these plays,” Whisenhunt said at his Monday morning press conference. “And then we’ll decide from that point.”
Whisenhunt will have to choose between Lindley, John Skelton and Kevin Kolb.
Kolb, he said, needs to be able to practice before he’ll be considered for a game. He’s been out since getting injured in Week 6 against the Bills.
“He’s making progress,” the coach said. “Until we get out there and see that he can make the throws and be able to do those kind of things, then we’ll know.”
Unwilling to commit to Lindley as he did last week, that would in theory leave Skelton as the only other viable option.
Which, apparently, he still is, even after being removed from a game in Atlanta with his team leading and not being inserted into either of the last two contests with his replacement struggling.
“I wouldn’t say that I’ve lost confidence in John’s ability,” Whisenhunt said.
Not turning to Skelton was less an indictment of him than it was just a byproduct of how Sunday’s game was going, especially against a defense like the Jets’ that gives a quarterback all sorts of different looks.
“At the point where you have to make that change you have to understand is it because the guy in there is not playing well,” Whisenhunt said. “Because you’re going to lose a lot of what you’ve gone through in the first parts of the game in terms of understanding the protections, where the sights are and what the checks are.”
So perhaps Skelton will get back into the lineup Sunday. Or maybe Kolb will be healthy enough to play. Then again, the coach could stick with Lindley.
Either way, the Cardinals’ quarterback situation is as uncertain as ever, and right now no one knows who will get the start Sunday in Seattle.
