Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals went into training camp this year with what they considered a very good quarterback room.
Veteran Kyler Murray was finally healthy, GM Monti Ossenfort had brought in journeyman Jacoby Brissett as an experienced backup on the same day that he inked DT Dalvin Tomlinson, and former fifth-round draft pick Clayton Tune had been a holdover for the season before. Desmond Ridder was gone.
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At the conclusion of training camp, Tune was waived, and Kedon Slovis was signed to the practice squad after he was released on the final cutdown from the Houston Texans. He was later elevated after Murray became injured with an ankle issue in the loss to the Tennessee Titans.
As we all know, Brissett has been under center ever since. Murray was thought to be ready to return to the field, but after the win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9, doctors determined that his ankle needed more time to heal. So, the franchise placed him on IR. He will remain on this list for a minimum of four weeks. The timeline is 4-8 weeks.
Brissett came to the Cardinals on a two-year deal. Ossenfort must have been psychic, giving a backup QB more than the traditional one-year deal. Now, Brissett may go into next year’s training camp as the starter, the backup to Murray, or at the very least, in a fair competition for the starting role.
But some don’t believe that if – and when – Murray returns, his starting job just might be in limbo.
The unwritten rule in sports is that you can’t lose your job to an injury. In theory, that is. But it happens more frequently than you realize to quarterbacks.
In 1963, QB Jim Ninowski of the Cleveland Browns injured his shoulder, and backup Frank Ryan took over. When Nino was healed and ready, new Browns head coach Blanton Collier kept Ryan as his starter, and he was the starting QB in the 1964 NFL Championship Game that Cleveland won 27-0.
QB Drew Bledsoe had been the first overall draft pick, named to the Pro Bowl three times, and had just signed a then-record 10-year, $103 million contract. During a game in 2001, he injured a hemothorax that had him bleeding a pint of blood an hour. He missed games, and upon his return, backup Tom Brady had already convinced the coaches that Bledsoe was no longer in charge.
In 2005, Minnesota Vikings QB Dante Culpepper tore his MCL, ACL, and PCL in Week 7. Backup Brad Johnson then went 7-2 and played very well. He set a team record for lowest interception-to-attempt ratio (1.3%), which was the lowest in the NFL among starting QBs. He was named the Vikings’ starting quarterback the following year despite Culpepper’s presence.
Which circles back to the Cardinals.
Already, fans and the media are pointing to the fact that Brissett is playing better than Murray, and the offense has completely changed when he is...
