Green in no hurry to name Cardinals' starter
Associated Press
Sept. 17, 2005 05:10 PM
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona Cardinals went back to work after their bye week without a designated starting quarterback for Sunday's home game against the Tennessee Titans.
Coach Dennis Green seemed in no hurry to name one, either.
"The No. 1 thing we want to try to do is play winning football," Green said after practice. "I don't think it's in our best interest for Tennessee to know exactly who our starting quarterback is going to be."
Kurt Warner started the first three games but has been sidelined by a groin strain that knocked him out of the team's loss at Seattle on Sept. 25. In Warner's absence, Josh McCown threw for career highs of 385 yards in a victory over San Francisco and 398 in a home loss to Carolina.
The off week gave Warner added time for rehabilitation work, and he was taking some of the snaps with the first unit on Monday.
"Right now my goal is to get back from my injury and show everybody that I'm 100 percent, that I can do everything I was doing before the injury so they can make a choice from that standpoint," he said.
Until Warner proves he is completely recovered, the job would go to McCown by default.
"I'm going to prepare like I'm the starter. That's all I can do," McCown said. "I do one play, then he does one play. That's the state of the union right now."
Even if Warner is healthy, Green might have a hard time benching McCown after two big passing performances.
"I'm just going in and getting ready to play," Warner said, "and every chance I get to work out there I'm going to work. There are just certain things I've come to realize are just out of your control."
Green praised Warner as "a great warrior, a great worker."
"You just want to make sure he is like new, meaning like his old self, before you ever go on the field and play," Green said. "I think that's crucial."
The coach said both quarterbacks "have thrown for over 300 yards, and they both have had to do it without a running game."
McCown has been through this before with Green. Last season, he started the first nine games, was benched for three, then returned to start the last four. The Cardinals signed Warner to a one-year deal, then Green gave him the starting job before this season's training camp.
Green is 7-14 since coming to the Cardinals. All seven of the victories came with McCown at quarterback.
The receivers are wisely staying out of the issue.
"It doesn't change the way I run routes. It doesn't change how I catch the ball," Anquan Boldin said. "Whoever is there, I'm going to play the same."
