LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) – Derek Anderson, it’s your turn. For how long remains to be determined.
The Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback situation is up in the air after coach Ken Whisenhunt decided to shake up a struggling offense and start Anderson at quarterback over Matt Leinart in the third preseason game, against the Chicago Bears on Saturday night.
“I realize we’re not game planning,” Whisenhunt said. “We’re not doing a lot so you’re going to have some of those situations more so than we’d like to have, but still that would be something we’d look to improve on this week.”
It’s not clear if the move announced Thursday is permanent, but this much is certain: there’s room for improvement.
‘t even get a first down in the three series he played against Tennessee in a 24-10 loss Monday.
That’s right – three-and-out on all three series. The former Heisman Trophy winner was 4 of 6 for 28 yards and is 10 of 13 for 77 yards in Arizona’s first two preseason games, his longest completion a 16-yarder.
So the Cardinals (1-1) are giving a start to Anderson, who competed with Brady Quinn in Cleveland and was brought in after spending his first five years with the Browns.
“I think I’ve made big strides since the spring,” said Anderson, who’s completed 24 of 41 passes for 193 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. “Feel good with it. We’ve been pretty basic in the preseason for the most part learning every single day.”
No matter who is behind center, this hasn’t been an easy preseason for the Cardinals. Not with all those injured receivers.
Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald (sprained right knee), Early Doucet (abdominal strain), Darren Mougey (broken hand) and Andre Roberts (shoulder) are all banged up, which certainly isn’t making things easier for the quarterbacks.
Fitzgerald, who was injured in the preseason opener against Houston, increased his workload Thursday, but the Cardinals are aiming to have him ready for the season opener at St. Louis on Sept. 12. Doucet was back at practice Thursday and might be ready to play against Chicago.
As for Leinart?
ern California quarterback did not talk to reporters Thursday, but a day earlier, he predicted big things for the offense, saying, “I think we’re on that verge, we’re ready to explode so to speak. We’re ready to move the ball, to score points.”
If there are any early fireworks, Anderson will be directing them.
The task could be a little easier with Chicago (0-2) missing middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. He suffered what the team says is a minor left calf strain in last week’s loss to Oakland, but the Bears have more pressing concerns.
Specifically, an offensive line that allowed Jay Cutler to get sacked five times, with no one struggling more than left tackle Chris Williams. He wasn’t entirely to blame for the four sacks by outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley, but it was a long night for a key figure on what the Bears hope will be a rejuvenated line.
“I think with Chris it’s an aberration,” offensive coordinator Mike Martz said. “I see him every day out here. I don’t know what happened to him. When I look at him on tape, the technique and everything is just not who he is. I know Mike (Tice, the line coach) has talked with him and they worked through that. But a young tackle will go through that, and he has to fortunately experience that in the preseason. Imagine if that was a regular-season game.”
That’s an image the Bears don’t need. They’ve seen enough breakdowns in the trenches.
Although Williams showed some promise toward the end of last season after moving from the right side, the line struggled all year and Cutler more often than not was running for his life. When he wasn’t desperately dodging defenders, he was making questionable decisions, and it all added up to a league-leading 26 interceptions along with a 7-9 record that left fans calling for coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo to be fired.
That didn’t happen.
Instead, the big moves were bringing in defensive end Julius Peppers and running back Chester Taylor along with a shake-up of the coaching staff, mostly on the offensive side. Besides hiring a new coordinator, they brought in Tice hoping he could bring something out of the line that was missing last season, and the Bears insist the results will show. Never mind what happened last week.
“The line, they had some struggles, like we talked about after the game, but they were in the right spots, it was just more of a lack of setting correctly and stuff like that,” Cutler said. “They’re going to take care of it. I’m not worried about it.”
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