Gardner Minshew selected as Cardinals' starting QB; Jacoby Brissett demoted to 3rd string

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — It's Minshew Mania in the desert for the foreseeable future.

Arizona Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said Monday that veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew will move into the starter's role after he took over for the struggling Jacoby Brissett and led a 14-point comeback to lift the Cardinals to a 33-30 overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

LaFleur said Minshew provided a “spark” that the team's beat-up offense needed. Minshew led four straight touchdown drives after entering the game late in the third quarter and finished with 188 yards passing and three touchdowns.

“Just playing the position, getting the ball out of his hands, going through his reads,” LaFleur said. “I thought his pocket movement was really good. He was finding the little spots in there, delivering the ball and delivering accurate balls.”

Rookie Carson Beck will move into the backup role while Brissett will be the team's third-string emergency quarterback on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks with the trade deadline approaching on Nov. 10.

The Cardinals agreed to a re-worked deal with Brissett during training camp, paying him $15.5 million this season after he threw for a career-high 3,366 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2025. But he hasn't been as productive through eight games this season and was pulled on Sunday after completing just 10 of 23 passes for 117 yards and an interception.

“It's not easy,” LaFleur said. “It's not a fun phone call. There's no book for that and there's a human element to it. I have a lot of respect for Jacoby the person and a lot of respect for Jacoby the player. It's not all on him, it's collective and it starts with me. But the position those guys sign up for — we know the deal. We needed a spark and Gardner gave us one.”

Minshew is on a $5.75 million, one-year deal he signed during the offseason. The 30-year-old earned an early career reputation for unexpected clutch performances, but has just a 17-30 record as a starting quarterback.

He was a Pro Bowl selection for the Indianapolis Colts in 2023.

Beck was a third-round pick out of Miami and looked good during the preseason, completing 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 7.

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