The Atlanta Falcons wasted no time in signing a new quarterback after AJ McCarron was injured Saturday night and an MRI revealed that he would miss the entire season with an ACL tear.
To take his spot on the roster, the team signed former 2018 10th overall pick Josh Rosen, who will get a chance to prove himself in the Falcons’ final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns Saturday. The pressure is on for the UCLA product, who will have just four days to learn the Falcons’ playbook.
“Our plan for Josh is to obviously give him a fair shot this week,” said Smith after practice on Wednesday, via Sports Illustrated. “We’ve got to get him ready to play; he’s gonna play Sunday night. How long, we’ll determine on Saturday, but you’re gonna see him out there. And that’s the only fair thing to do. We’ve got to figure out this backup quarterback spot, so you’ll see him play some point Sunday night.”
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Rosen Was Once a Highly-Touted Rookie
As a UCLA standout, Rosen was drafted 10th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He appeared in 14 games, starting 13 of those as a rookie that year.
With Rosen as their start, the Cardinals struggled to a 3-10 record after he completed just 55.2% of his passes for 2,278 yards, throwing for 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
The Cardinals did a coaching shakeup and Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury took over as the team’s head coach. Rosen wasn’t around much longer after the team opted to draft his replacement in Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray out of Oklahoma.
Since then, Rosen has played for the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Niners gave him a chance during the second half of its opening preseason game on Saturday, Aug. 14 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Rosen threw 15 passes, completing 10 of them for 93 yards with one interception.
In three NFL seasons, Rosen has started 16 games, throwing for 2,845 yards, 12 touchdowns to 19 interceptions for a 63.5 passer rating.
When asked how he has looked so far, Smith was straightforward.
“You know, this is day one,” Smith said. “I’m not a big hot-take guy. He’s done everything we’ve asked him so far. We’ll go in there and add some more plays for him tomorrow and see how he handles it.”
The Falcons Also Worked Out Blake Bortles
GettyBefore signing Josh Rosen, the Atlanta Falcons worked out former No. 3 overall pick Blake Bortles.
Smith announced on Monday that the team had a quarterback(s) work out for them that afternoon but we didn’t find out who the others were until later.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars’ first-round pick, Blake Bortles, was the other quarterback mentioned that worked out alongside Rosen.
Bortles spent some of the offseason with the Green Bay Packers until Aaron Rodgers showed up to training camp.
The veteran QB hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since 2019. He’s most notable for his 2015 breakout season where he recorded 4,428 passing yards and 35 touchdowns. Since then, however, he’s spent most of his time on practice squads.
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Falcons HC Arthur Smith Shares Plan for QB Josh Rosen