Whisenhunt not ready to name starting quarterback for Week 17
Dec 24, 2012, 6:45 PM | Updated: Dec 28, 2012, 3:08 pm
It’s almost become a weekly ritual for Ken Whisenhunt in 2012.
On the Monday following losses this season, Whisenhunt is often bombarded with questions regarding the quarterback situation for the team’s upcoming game.
Such is the life of a head coach whose team is 1-10 in its last 11 games. And after Sunday’s 28-13 loss to the Chicago Bears — one aided by poor quarterback play and costly turnovers — Whisenhunt didn’t get a free pass Monday.
Rookie Ryan Lindley went 17-of-30 for 141 yards, but despite showing signs of improvement, put the Cardinals in a deep hole to start the second half when he threw his third pick-six of the season to Charles Tillman.
Veteran Brian Hoyer, who was signed on December 10, also had some encouraging moments in his relief appearance of Lindley Sunday. The former Michigan State star completed 11 passes for 105 yards, but he wasn’t immune to the turnover bug either, throwing a late fourth quarter interception.
The mixed results for both against Chicago left Whisenhunt without an answer Monday when asked who would get the nod when the team travels to play the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday.
“We haven’t even watched the tape with the team yet,” Whisenhunt said Monday. “I’m hesitant [to make a decision] until we go through some of those things. When we talk, there are always situations where you want to know what was going through the player’s mind, what they were thinking, what causes them to do something. That all goes into the decision part of it.”
If Hoyer does get the chance to start in Week 17, it would be his first career NFL start. The Cardinals would also be the only team this season to use four different starting quarterbacks.
Arizona’s Week 1 starter, John Skelton, was inactive for Sunday’s game against the Bears. And Kevin Kolb, who went 3-2 as a starter, has not played since suffering a season-ending rib/sternum injury in the fourth quarter of the team’s Week 6 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Whisenhunt of how the quarterback situation has played out this season. “With that position, you have to have stability, you have to have consistency of play, and we haven’t had that.
“I think the thing that has been the hardest are the turnovers, especially the turnovers for points. You can’t overcome that, not every week.”
Since starting the season 4-0, the Cardinals have given up seven defensive touchdowns in their last 11 games.
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