The Cardinals quarterback change gives Carson Beck his first NFL start when the Arizona Cardinals host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, November 15, 2026. Arizona placed Gardner Minshew II on injured reserve Tuesday afternoon, ending his season. The Cardinals added veteran Josh Johnson and rookie Joey Aguilar to back up Beck. The injury exposed what Arizona gave up in the Jacoby Brissett trade: a veteran backup who already knew the offense.
Brissett had spent eight starts running Mike LaFleur’s offense, including the October game in Los Angeles. Johnson arrived Tuesday from another team’s practice squad and will back up Beck, with Aguilar third. Johnson has played enough NFL football to handle an emergency, but he has only days to learn the calls Beck will use on Sunday.
How The Cardinals Quarterback Change Reached Beck
Minshew replaced Brissett against the Dallas Cowboys on November 1 with the team trailing 17-3. Minshew threw three touchdown passes in the 33-30 overtime comeback, and LaFleur promoted Minshew the next day. Beck moved from emergency third quarterback to backup while Brissett dropped to third.
Minshew injured his throwing elbow against the Seattle Seahawks when Dante Fowler Jr. hit his arm on the final snap before halftime. Minshew played every second-half snap in Seattle’s 17-3 win. Arizona Sports reported a torn UCL, and the earlier injury update covered the possibility of surgery before the team confirmed Minshew would miss the rest of the season.
Beck last played in the preseason opener on August 6, when a rib injury interrupted his preseason. LaFleur plans to give the third-round pick the same offensive foundation. Beck and Minshew are comfortable with many of the same concepts, giving LaFleur familiar calls to build into the opening script.
What Arizona Gained In The Brissett Trade
The Cardinals traded Brissett and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens on November 6 for a 2027 fourth-rounder and a 2028 seventh-rounder. Brissett had $5.4 million in salary remaining at the time of the trade. Arizona converted roughly half into a signing bonus, according to ESPN, and Baltimore took on the rest.
Brissett started eight games before his demotion and reportedly requested a trade after losing the job. Injuries to Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley gave the Ravens an immediate need. General manager Monti Ossenfort told reporters the move opened more reps for Beck and said the team could have kept Brissett as the third quarterback.
Beck was already the backup when the Cardinals made the deal, so the team could have kept Brissett without reversing that promotion. The trade moved Arizona up a round in the 2027 draft and added a late pick the following year. Minshew’s injury two days later exposed the immediate cost by leaving Beck as the only quarterback on the roster or practice squad.
What Josh Johnson Brings Behind Beck
The Cardinals signed Johnson off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad and Aguilar off the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad. The depth chart lists Johnson second, and his 50 NFL appearances include 11 starts. Aguilar, an undrafted rookie who spent seven seasons in college, gives Arizona a third quarterback again.
A midgame switch could put Johnson behind a reshuffled line with little time to sort out protections. Beck needs the bulk of the first-team work before his debut, which limits the snaps Johnson can take with the starters. LaFleur can give Johnson a smaller set of calls to rehearse so he can step in without having to run the entire game plan.
What The Rams Rematch Will Reveal About Beck
Brissett threw for 218 yards in the 18-16 October win, but five trips inside the 20 produced zero touchdowns. Wide receiver Michael Wilson also went on injured reserve after catching 51 passes in eight games. Beck has one fewer receiving option when defenders crowd Trey McBride near the goal line.
The Seahawks red-zone review shows how quickly a late scoring chance disappeared after a first-down loss pushed the Cardinals backward. Consecutive incompletions from the 2 ended the drive. A quick throw on first down could keep more of the playbook available, and motion could help another receiver get a clean release while McBride draws coverage inside.
Los Angeles played the first meeting without Myles Garrett, who returned from knee surgery last week and recorded three sacks against the Washington Commanders. Aaron Donald compounds the problem inside, and the Rams logged four sacks with both rushers on the field against Washington. Sliding protection toward Garrett can leave Donald one-on-one with an interior lineman.
Arizona center Hjalte Froholdt missed Wednesday’s practice while in concussion protocol, per the injury report. Beck may have to coordinate protections with a backup against a front that can threaten both edges and the middle. Keeping a tight end in can help a tackle against Garrett, but it also takes away a target when Beck needs a quick answer.
End Of My Cardinals Quarterback Change Rant
The Cardinals quarterback change gives Beck eight games to build a case for starting next season if he stays healthy. Early-down throws can give him a chance to establish his timing before Garrett and Donald get obvious passing downs. A quicker answer when a defense repeats a pressure that previously beat him would show more about Beck’s progress than a single Sunday’s passing total.
Ossenfort got a better pick for a quarterback Arizona had already demoted. The backup plan needed someone who could step into LaFleur’s offense on short notice, especially with a rookie next in line. The Cardinals can give Beck the rest of the season to show what he can do and still question how the front office prepared for the handoff.
