TEMPE, Ariz. — Late in the week, Arizona Cardinals quarterback David Blough will start Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons in place of Colt McCoy, coach Kliff Kingsbury said Friday.
The decision to sit McCoy was made out of “excess of caution” after McCoy experienced additional concussion symptoms following Thursday’s practice.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ Blough and Jarrett Stidham will become the 63rd and 64th quarterbacks to start an NFL game this season, equaling a non-strike record set in 2007. The only other NFL season with more starting quarterbacks was the 1987 strike year, when there were 87 different starters.
| 64 | NFL starts QBs this season* |
| 11 | Teams with only one starting QB: Bills, Bengal, Chargers, chiefs, giants, jaguars, lions, Packers, Seahawks, Vikings |
| 21 | Teams with multiple starting QBs |
| 4 | Starting QBs for Rams, Cardinals |
| * With Blough, Stidham from Sun. | |
Only 11 of the NFL’s 32 teams had a starting quarterback this season. On the other end of the spectrum, the Cardinals will draw the Los Angeles Rams Sunday with four as the teams with the most starting QBs this season.
Blough, who was signed Dec. 14, found out Friday morning he would get the ball in Atlanta against Trace McSorley, who started Sunday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kingsbury said it would give him an opportunity to evaluate Blough before deciding between McSorley and Blough for the season finale against the San Francisco 49ers.
Blough said hearing he was starting was “perhaps shocking”. He will make his first start since 2019 when he went 5-0 with the Detroit Lions and has not thrown a pass in a game since 2020.
“You never know how many chances you’re going to get in this league and to be able to be here after coming here a couple of weeks ago I’m looking forward to letting go and giving these guys everything I’ve got,” said Blough.
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When asked how McSorley took the news, Kingsbury said, “He’s a competitor.”
Blough said both co-pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Cam Turner and Kingsbury have worked with him to teach him offense and he’s “comfortable” going into Sunday’s game.
“He did a good job this week,” said Kingsbury. “So we make sure we tailor the script to things that he feels good about and let him try to play fast and play at a high level.”
Blough, who is from Carrollton, Texas, said he grew up watching Texas Tech’s air raid offensive but never had the opportunity to participate.
“As a backup in this league, you have to prepare like you’re going to play and then you go out and do your job,” Blough said. “I think at every stop along the way an opportunity like this has presented itself and you have to prove you’re ready and you can handle those situations.”
However, Blough could do without one of the Cardinals’ top targets on Sunday. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins left practice before the open portion was over with what Kingsbury called a “little knee problem.”
Arizona is expected to make a decision Saturday on whether Hopkins will play the Falcons.