Copyright Yardbarker
Following the Arizona Cardinals' big win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, head coach Jonathan Gannon insisted his team did not have a quarterback controversy regarding Kyler Murray and Jacoby Brissett. He may have been telling the truth. And it seems that Brissett is going to be his quarterback of choice. At least in the near future. Cardinals announce Jacoby Brissett will start this week Gannon announced on Tuesday that Brissett will start Sunday's Week 10 game against the Seattle Seahawks, sticking with the quarterback that has helped jumpstart the Cardinals' offense in recent weeks. Murray has not played for the Cardinals since Oct. 5 due to a foot injury, and according to ESPN's Adam Schefter it might be worse than originally feared. Schefter reported on Tuesday that the Cardinals have consulted with multiple doctors that have provided timetables of four to eight weeks for his recovery with the potential for a setback if he tries to rush it back. While that would seem to be the motivation for starting Brissett, Gannon also said on Tuesday that he would have made the decision to stick with him regardless of Murray's health or status. That indicates there is a significant change underway for the Cardinals at the most important position, and that the injury might just be a way of justifying their decision. Murray's career with the Cardinals has been a mixed bag of flashes of brilliance, inconsistency and injuries that have prevented him from ever being the quarterback the team hoped he could be and are paying him to be. In the short-term for this season, there is no denying that the offense has looked better with Brissett running the offense. They have scored more points, been more competitive and given the Cardinals more chances to win games. It does, however, create some long-term issues and questions. For one, Brissett should not be considered a potential long-term option. He is 32 and spent his career mostly as a backup and brief starter for a lot of mediocre to bad teams. The second is the Cardinals are still on the hook for a massive contract with Murray that does not really give them a potential out financially for another couple of years. Do they bite the bullet the way the Denver Broncos did with Russell Wilson and just take that financial hit? Do they continue to try and run it back with him and hope something eventually clicks? None of those options sound really intriguing. The whole situation is another example of how badly it can mess up a franchise to invest highly in the wrong quarterback.
