Arizona Cardinals fifth-round rookie Clayton Tune is expected to make his first NFL start Sunday in Cleveland, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
On Monday, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said either Tune or Kyler Murray would start against the Browns. The Cardinals traded Joshua Dobbs — their starter for the first eight weeks of the season — to the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday and signed Jeff Driskel to the practice squad on Wednesday.
Gannon has said for months that the Cardinals will make an organizational decision about Murray’s return from a torn ACL. On Friday, he made it clear that in addition to Gannon and Murray, this also includes general manager Monti Ossenfort and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. They will also keep owner Michael Bidwill updated, Gannon said.
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All three Cardinals quarterbacks had a good week of practice, Gannon said. But the coach wanted to see how Murray and Tune looked in practice Friday before making a decision, he said, noting that nothing will immediately change his mind.
The 24-year-old Tune has played just one snap all season, coming on a fake punt in Week 7 in Seattle. He completed his only pass for 4 yards. That’s all Arizona has seen of him outside of practice.
From the preseason — when Tune completed 34 of 59 passes for 353 yards with one touchdown and one interception — to today, Tune has noticed that the NFL is “a little faster.” He noted that it meant more in the regular season, which led to players being “more eager.” That’s why he has to make quick and smart decisions, said Tune.
Tune said Wednesday he was always cool, calm and collected on the field. It’s a personality instilled in him by former coaches, who stressed to Tune that it was important for his teammates to see him neither too high nor too low.
Information from ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss was used in this report.