Report: Cardinals expected to start Dobbs in Week 1

The Arizona Cardinals are expected to start Josh Dobbs at quarterback in Sunday's opener against the Washington Commanders, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Rookie fifth-rounder Clayton Tune will act as the backup. Arizona will continue to evaluate the position each week, Rapoport adds.

The Cardinals acquired Dobbs from the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 24. Although Dobbs only has a few weeks of experience in the club's system, Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing worked with him in Cleveland as the quarterbacks coach.

Dobbs has experience being thrown into the lineup on short notice. He made his first career start for the Tennessee Titans last season eight days after being signed following an injury to Ryan Tannehill.

In two starts for the Titans, the 28-year-old finished with 411 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions while completing 58.8% of his passes.

Kyler Murray will miss at least the first four games of the season after being kept on the physically unable to perform list to start the campaign due to an ACL injury he suffered in Week 14 last year.

Colt McCoy was regarded as the favorite to take over for Arizona after starting six games and appearing in six more for the NFC West club over the last two seasons. However, he was a surprise inclusion in the team's cuts down to 53 players.

Prior to Rapoport's report, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said earlier Wednesday that he was going to keep his quarterback decision a secret.

"I ain't telling you anything," he said, according to NFL.com's Nick Shook.

"I trust our guys," Gannon added. "Media's the media. That's your guys' job, I understand that, but we're gonna do what's best for our football team as we see fit and try to execute that."

Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.