Carson Beck will make his first NFL start on Sunday, November 15, when the Arizona Cardinals host the Los Angeles Rams at State Farm Stadium. Coach Mike LaFleur made it official at the start of his Wednesday news conference. Asked whether Beck would be the starter, he answered, “Yeah, Carson will be the starter,” and said what he wants from the rookie is simple: “Go out and operate. Go operate this offense and go play each play as its own. So do what he’s been doing in practice. It’s just an extension of the practice field. Obviously, it’s live bullets.”
Beck, the 65th overall pick in the third round of the 2026 draft, has not played in a game since the Hall of Fame Game on August 6, when he went 15 of 19 before a rib injury ended his preseason. He started the season as Arizona’s emergency third quarterback. Jacoby Brissett was benched on November 1 in Dallas and then traded to Baltimore, and Gardner Minshew tore the UCL in his throwing elbow in last Sunday’s 17-3 loss at Seattle and is out for the season, as covered in Tuesday’s injury updates. That leaves Beck as the Cardinals’ third starting quarterback in three games, with Arizona at 3-6.
“I was ready to play right then and there”
Beck said he spent the day he found out on the phone. “Obviously this is a dream of mine, to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and when I got the call, I was super excited. I was ready to play right then and there,” he said. “I was out in my backyard, I couldn’t stop walking around and calling my family, friends, just letting them know.”
He described the last few weeks as a crash course. “Obviously, having gone from an emergency quarterback at the beginning of the season to last week being the backup to now being the starter, it’s, I mean, it’s been a crazy season,” Beck said. “It’s really been a welcome-to-the-NFL season.”
When a reporter suggested he had not spent much time on the sideline in his career, Beck pushed back. “I will correct you. I have spent a lot of time on the sideline. I did sit for three years when I was at Georgia,” he said. “And I really think that that time prepared me for this, of how to handle yourself like a pro when you are on the sideline, when you are the backup, how to still prepare like you are the starter.” The point of that routine, he said, is that “when you do get your opportunity, you’re not doing anything new.”
Mental reps from the scout team
Beck said most of his practice work this season came running other teams’ plays. “With the reps that I was getting, a lot of it was the look team, the scout team. So I’m not even really running our stuff,” he said. “So for me, the biggest thing is how do I get the mental reps and have the same preparation before the snap.” He said he could hear the call in his helmet and say it out loud, then walk through the script in his head after practice. “So injured or not injured, it was really all the same.”
Asked where he has grown most since August, he pointed to the playbook. “Just trying to say a whole play call in the huddle is not the easiest thing ever,” Beck said. “I did a little bit at Georgia. We had pretty long play calls. Miami a little bit shorter.”
The receivers he will throw to on Sunday are mostly the ones he worked with on the scout team. Michael Wilson is out for the season with a neck injury, and Arizona has also lost Kendrick Bourne and Jalen Brooks for the year. “Nobody knew that I was going to end up starting this week. It’s kind of like short notice, boom, like, hey, you’re in there,” Beck said. “I have a ton of confidence in all those guys. I’ve seen them make a ton of plays.”
Trey McBride: “Carson Beck’s a smart kid”
That puts more on tight end Trey McBride, who spoke just before Beck. Beck called him “the best player in our offense and one of the best in the league, if not the best,” adding: “When he gets out on that field, he’s a dog, and he wants the football, and obviously, we try to get it to him.” He said the two talked after practice about how McBride sees coverages and different options on his routes.
McBride said they have been close since Beck arrived and have spent time together away from football. “Carson Beck’s a smart kid,” he said, calling him “very talented.” “He’s played a lot of football in his career and I have a ton of confidence going in this game with him back there.” He added that Beck “studies very hard and I respect the heck out of him,” and that “he goes through his reads quickly.”
LaFleur: “No, he will not be scared”
LaFleur said Beck will get all of the first-team reps this week, his first week getting them. He also said he has had quarterbacks who overthink. “It’s like paralysis by analysis. It’s like, dude, you’re overthinking this,” LaFleur said. “And I’m not saying that with Carson. I love the process. … He was mature when he got here. I think Miami and Georgia, I think he was in two really good environments, two really good cultures to prep him for these kind of moments.”
“You never really know until you get to the live bullets on Sunday,” LaFleur said. “But just the way he goes about his business, whether it’s been from OTAs through training camp, obviously seeing him operate there in that first half,” referring to the preseason opener, “so obviously we’ll know more come Sunday. But I have all the confidence that he’s ready to roll.” Asked whether Beck might be timid about letting the ball go, LaFleur was short: “No, he will not be scared.”
Facing a Rams pass rush led by Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, LaFleur said he is not setting a bar. “I got no expectations for him, except to just go out and play his game one play at a time, go let it rip, have some fun, have fun with your guys,” he said. Earlier he had put it this way: “I know this isn’t too big for him,” and “go have some fun, man. Go let it sling.”
Beck called the Rams’ defense “super talented” and said “what they’re able to do on defense, it causes problems for offenses and it’s definitely going to be a challenge for us.” His approach to their disguised looks: “Every week a defense has a new plan, a new pressure, a new package … So at the end of the day, you just have to go react. You gotta go play quarterback.”
Minshew’s injury and a new backup
LaFleur said Minshew did not think the injury was serious when he played through the second half in Seattle, and still felt good on Monday before the test results came back. “And that’s when he knew. And it was devastating for him,” LaFleur said. “He’ll bounce back from it.”
Arizona signed 40-year-old Josh Johnson and undrafted rookie Joey Aguilar this week. LaFleur, who has worked with Johnson before, said the veteran will be “an awesome backup for Carson going into this game and just being good eyes, being good ears for him.” Of the quarterback shuffle, he said he told his players, “You probably didn’t have this on your bingo card two weeks ago, and here we are,” adding, “You’re never shocked by anything in this league.”
Back at State Farm Stadium
Beck’s last college win came at the same stadium, when Miami won the Fiesta Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. “Probably my favorite game I’ve ever played in,” he said. “But it’ll really be cool to walk in that stadium and know what’s at stake and what’s to come on Sunday, for sure.” Asked how many of his calls ended with requests for tickets, Beck said, “Oh, they’re all coming.” He said he keeps “a small circle” of family and close friends, and they will all be there.
He will not be the only rookie quarterback making a debut start on Sunday. Fernando Mendoza, whose Indiana team beat Beck’s Miami in last season’s national championship game, gets his first start for the Raiders.
Beck closed with a lesson from a video LaFleur showed the team, of Steph Curry talking about his shots against France in the 2024 Olympic gold-medal game. “You want to go out there, you want to do good, you want to play your best. But when you think too much about that and you fear failure, or you fear maybe not having the result that you want, that’s when the emotions get in the way,” Beck said. “So I think just being comfortable with not knowing the outcome and then ultimately going and shooting your shot is how you handle those emotions.”
Cardinals-Rams kicks off at 4:05 pm ET on Sunday.
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