NFL

Cardinals to start Blough at QB after McCoy setback

By Sports Desk December 30, 2022

The Arizona Cardinals will have their fourth starting quarterback this season after coach Kliff Kingsbury announced that David Blough will get the nod for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

Blough, signed off the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad on December 14, will fill in for a still-injured Colt McCoy.

McCoy had cleared the NFL's concussion protocol earlier this week but reported a recurrence of symptoms following Thursday's practice.

Kingsbury told reporters on Friday that McCoy, who inherited the starting job after Kyler Murray tore his ACL in Week 14, will likely be held out of Arizona's final game of the season at San Francisco as well.

McCoy also missed the Cardinals' 19-16 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Christmas Day. Trace McSorley made his first NFL start and threw for 217 yards with one interception while completing 24 of 45 passes.

Kingsbury said the Cardinals want to get a further look at Blough, a five-game starter for the Detroit Lions in 2019, and then will decide between his options as to who will start on Week 18.

"We'll give him a chance, evaluate him, and see how that goes," Kingsbury said of Blough.

"The last week, we'll see where we're at and name a starter then.

"[Trace] is a competitor, but he understands the situation we are in and where we are at. There is some evaluation that needs to be done at this point."

Blough went 0-5 when pressed into duty as a rookie for the Lions. The 27-year-old threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns in his NFL debut on Thanksgiving Day of 2019, but completed just 52.9 per cent of his passes with five interceptions over his four subsequent starts.

He will be taking the field on Sunday for a Cardinals team that has lost five straight games and sits last in the NFC West at 4-11, one year after finishing 11-6 and reaching the playoffs. 

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