Cards’ Rookie Josh Rosen happy with progress, ready for preseason debut
Arizona prepares QB of the future
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Barring unforeseen circumstances, rookie Josh Rosen will begin his first NFL season on the sidelines as Arizona’s backup quarterback.
The preseason, though, will be his chance to shine, beginning Saturday night when the Cardinals play at home against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“We want him to play quite a bit and really get into the flow of the game,” coach Steve Wilks said.
Rosen said his two weeks of training camp have “gone really well.”
“I think I’ve gotten better pretty much every day since I’ve gotten here,” the former UCLA star said before Wednesday’ practice.
Sam Bradford is Arizona’s starter but the Cardinals view Rosen as their franchise quarterback of the future. Why else would they have moved up five spots in the draft to pluck him 10th overall?
Asked for specific areas of improvement since he became a pro, Rosen cites “a bunch of things.”
“The most tangible is probably the playbook,” he said. “I feel a lot more comfortable and fluid with it at the line of scrimmage. I’m focusing more and more with what the defense is trying to do to me rather than making sure I get the right snap count and in the right protection.”
He said he’s also picking up “the little things on how to use the double-cadence to try and buy yourself time and get someone offside, just little tricks of the trade I didn’t know when I was in college.”
From the beginning Bradford and Rosen seem to have gotten along well.
“Sam’s actually really good with all those little things,” Rosen said. “He’s a crafty vet and very successful for a lot of different reasons. He might not share every reason with me, but I’ll take advantage of the ones that he does.”
Bradford said Rosen “asks the right questions.”
“He’s hungry for information,” Bradford said. “It seems like he’s always trying to learn something. It doesn’t stop in the meeting rooms. Even at the dinner table he’ll ask me.
“It’s fun to be around someone like that and to hopefully try to be able to help him. I share with him some of the experiences I’ve had, some of the things I’ve learned over the years. Hopefully it can relate to him and can help him in some way.”
Wilks wouldn’t say how much Rosen will play on Saturday night but it will be long enough to do some serious evaluation.
“The mechanics of really