Two weeks ago, Carson Beck was sitting third on the Arizona Cardinals‘ depth chart. Now, he gets a shot at being the QB1.
In just 2 weeks, the Cardinals QB room entirely changed, as they traded Jacoby Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens, and backup QB Gardner Minshew suffered a season-ending elbow injury in the very next game.
Head coach Mike LaFleur had no choice but to throw Beck into the fire, as he prepares for his NFL regular season debut in Week 10 vs. the Rams.
Cardinals Carson Beck Confident About Debut vs. Rams
Beck insists the Sunday live action pressure won’t rattle him.
“I think the coolest thing about confidence is that confidence is a choice,” the rookie said Wednesday in his first press conference this regular season, via Bo Brack. “Also, I’ve said this before, it makes everyone around you better as well. It exudes confidence into them when you’re showing that you’re confident.
“And when you choose that, again, you just gotta go out there and execute. You gotta go out there and do your thing. You gotta go out there and be confident, and have swag, have moxie, regardless of circumstances, regardless of anything going around you, regardless of maybe what happened the play before, maybe thinking about what’s going to happen in the next play. You just gotta be in the present moment and that’s really all you can do and control.”
Beck’s mindset is in the right place, but gameday brings a massive test against one of the league’s stingiest defenses. Entering Week 10, Los Angeles ranks sixth in total defense (302.4 yards per game), fifth against the pass (198.7 yards per game), and eighth in scoring at just 20.1 points allowed per contest.
Defensive coordinator Chris Shula’s group has also been a nightmare on money downs, holding opponents to a 31.6 percent conversion rate on third down — the fourth-best mark in the NFL.
Worse yet for a rookie making his first start, LA’s pass rush just got its biggest weapon back. While the Rams have only 16 sacks on the season, Myles Garrett returned from a seven-game absence in Week 9 and immediately exploded for three sacks and a forced fumble against Washington.
Mike LaFleur Confident in Beck Too
Yet, head coach Mike LaFleur is confident that Beck is ready to roll.
“You never really know until you get to the live bullets on Sunday, but just the way he goes about his business … I have all the confidence that he’s ready to roll,” coach Mike LaFleur said, per Darren Urban.
If Minshew hadn’t torn his UCL, Beck would still be holding a clipboard. Instead, he just caught an eight-game audition to prove to Arizona he is their franchise quarterback—before the front office hits the reset button in the 2027 NFL Draft.
“Obviously, this is a dream of mine,” Beck added. “It’s been a crazy season; it’s really been a welcome-to-the-NFL season, being introduced to what the league can be.”
“Everybody is looking at you as a quarterback, right?” Beck said. “Your attitude has to be right each and every day, the moxie, going out and having confidence, making everyone around you better, I think that’s something I learned.”
Cardinals QB Carson Beck Speaks Out Ahead of First NFL Start in Week 10 vs. Rams