Rookie Beck to Start Cardinals' Hall of Fame Game
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- Carson Beck will start for the Arizona Cardinals in Thursday's Hall of Fame Game against the Carolina Panthers after the team rested starter Jacoby Brissett and backup Gardner Minshew.
- Beck said he had "no clue" he'd be named the starter and that he doesn't get nervous for games — the last time was 15 years ago, when he was 8 before a Pop Warner city championship.
- Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett defined a productive outing for Beck as "great execution," proper cadences, getting everyone to the line, and smart decisions — not necessarily a win.
- Beck said the NFL game is "100 percent" different from college despite similar concepts, and credited time under Kirby Smart at Georgia and Mario Cristobal at Miami for preparing him for NFL training-camp rigors.
- Beck described his Saban-tree college coaches' fall camps as "hell" and said the structure mirrors his current Cardinals camp.
- Beck said he is process-oriented in camp, willing to attempt throws he'd avoid in a regular-season game to test what's possible, even at the risk of an interception.
Why it matters: A third-round rookie gets his first NFL start on the only nationally televised Cardinals game of the season, giving Arizona an early evaluation of a quarterback who played under two Saban-tree college coaches and is still building offensive chemistry.
