NEWSLETTER
After watching Baker Mayfield lead the Cleveland Browns to their first regular season win in 635 days, it’s only natural for fans of the Arizona Cardinals to turn their eyes to their own rookie quarterback for hope. And that hope was squashed on Friday morning when Cardinals GM Steve Keim issued a vote of confidence in quarterback Sam Bradford as the team’s starter for “right now.”
So when will Josh Rosen take over under center? “It’s a tough question,” Keim told the “Doug and Wolf Show on 98.7 FM, via the team’s official website. “When the time is right, Josh will have his opportunity.”
The calls for Rosen to get his opportunity will only increase after what happened with Mayfield and the Browns on Thursday. So it makes sense that the team’s general manager would try to get out in front and put out those fires before they spread.
I suppose there’s a case for the Cardinals to play Rosen. It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where Bradford struggles, the game gets out of hand, and with expectations low after an 0-2 start, giving the home fans something to cheer about by debuting the team’s highly-touted quarterback of the future isn’t something that can be ruled out. Is it a great situation to bring in a young quarterback? Hardly. You don’t want to throw a guy getting his first professional action against the top-ranked defense in football. But who knows?
In any case, Rosen’s opportunity could come sooner than we think. As the team’s backup quarterback, Rosen is one Bradford-injury away from coming into the game. And since Bradford has a decorated injury history, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if something popped up and Rosen made his debut in Week 3 due to the unfortunate circumstances of an injury. After all, it was a concussion that sidelined Tyrod Taylor on Thursday and allowed the Baker Mayfield Show to get underway. But still … the Cardinals would probably be smart to not throw Rosen to the hungry dogs of the Bears’ defense. There’s always next week.
