Desmond Ridder and Clayton Tune are battling for the backup spot on the Cardinals. Drew Petzing is happy with how both have played.
The earth-shaking report came from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport Thursday, saying that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Clayton Tune would start in Sunday’s preseason finale against the Denver Broncos.
The report also claimed the Cardinals “could” keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster that will be named by 1 p.m. Arizona time Tuesday, but will also be fluid every day after that.
Well, of course, they “could.” They also could keep only two.
Tune was a fifth-round pick in 2023, while Ridder was acquired in a trade in March for wide receiver Rondale Moore, who is now on the Falcons’ injured reserve list.
In the first two preseason games and training camp, Tune has been the better player, especially with accuracy.
Thursday morning, when offensive coordinator Drew Petzing spoke to the media, he downplayed the significance of who starts a preseason game, while not confirming the plan for Sunday in Denver.
“I know people are going to make a big deal of who starts the game. I don’t really see it that way,” he said. “Competitions at every position are going to come down to final cuts. That’s the nature of this business; it’s the reality of training camp. So, excited to see those guys go out and play, and play at a high level and expect them to do that regardless of who is in the game first.”
Petzing said he’s liked what both players have done in the two games against the Saints and Colts.
He said, “The game-day operation; I thought it’s been pretty clean. I thought the ball is going where it should be. Certainly, there are some plays we’d like to have back. It takes 11 guys to operate an offense. So a lot of that is not always on their performance one way or the other, good and bad.
“A lot of it for the quarterback is decision-making, operation and are we doing we doing what we should be at the position. We’ve done some things well. There’s certainly things we need to clean up for both guys and that’s gonna be true throughout the year for everybody on this roster.”
Noting the importance of having backups prepared to play, Petzing said, “The reality of the NFL game is that guys get hurt. It’s unfortunate, but it’s real. The quarterback position had what, 60-plus starters last year in the National Football League? So, you want everybody on that roster, if they have a jersey, to be ready to go, ready to operate the offense, ready to give us the best chance to win.
“That’s preached in the meeting room as a team. It’s certainly preached by me as an offense. And that’s gotta be our mindset.”
As for how Tune has improved from his rookie season, Petzing said, “The pace of play is faster. He’s making decisions faster, in and out of the huddle he’s quicker. The operation; he’s not thinking. For Year 1, which is true for a lot of rookies, certainly at the quarterback position, you can almost watch them think as they play. Which is not ideal.
“Going into Year 2, it’s a lot more anticipation and a lot more like quick-twitch reaction rather than, ‘Oh they did this, now I do that.’ It’s like, ‘No, it’s I think they’re about to do this, so I’m going to be ready to do that. And I think that’s really helped speed up his process and allowed him to play at a good level.”
Of Ridder, Petzing said, “He came in here and learned the offense very quickly and put himself in position to be part of this competition.”
However, the big question remains: Will the Cardinals keep two or three quarterbacks? Asked what he would prefer, noting it’s not his call and that general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon will do that, Petzing smiled and said, “That’s the best part about it; I don’t have to make that decision.”
He then said, “If you have guys that play the position at a high level, you absolutely want them on the roster. We talked about it; 60-plus guys started (last season). You never know who you’re gonna need at what point.”
Of course, he knows it’s not as simple as keeping two or three.
“There’s so many things that go into that conversation and it’s usually not just about that position,” Petzing said. “It’s about a number of other positions and how it fits the roster. That’s gonna be a job for Monti and JG to work through here over the next couple days. Certainly, I want to make that conversation hard on them and make sure that they’re really confident that those guys are ready to go regardless of who’s called in to play the game.”
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