TEMPE, Ariz. -- Once the regular season starts, Carson Beck will be in a position familiar to all the quarterbacks around the NFL who aren’t starters.
With how practices are structured during the season, there isn’t enough time for the backup and third-string quarterback to get a significant amount of reps. With Arizona Cardinals starter Jacoby Brissett set to get the majority of snaps and Gardner Minshew II expected to back up Brissett, Beck should get what’s left -- if any -- as the third-stringer.
It’s something Arizona’s first-year head coach Mike LaFleur has thought about, but he hasn’t divulged his plan for getting Beck more reps once the season starts.
“I’m not going to dive into it because we don’t have to worry about that right now, but it’s definitely on the forefront,” he said. “I apologize not answering that question right now, because it is valid. And I do think in due time we get closer, I’ll answer that for you.”
That made Beck’s first NFL training camp all the more important.
He was getting reps during walk-throughs and practice. Then after a rib injury in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 6, he practiced a few days after that until soreness set in and hasn’t taken a practice rep in the past couple of weeks.
It’s been a setback for the third-round pick, who was progressing nicely through the first three weeks of training camp.
“It’s easy to magnify the quarterback position and the rookie and all that kind of stuff,” LaFleur said. “But yeah, you get better at football by practicing and playing football. And so, when you’re not out there, it’s hard to get better. So, he’s missed some days, but that’s no different than the nose guard, that’s no different than the receiver, that’s no different than the left tackle, particularly for the younger guys.
“So, it is what it is. I mean, injuries are part of this thing, and he’s a tough dude. I mean, he battled through it for three or four practices before the discomfort became so real that it just wasn’t worth it because it wasn’t going to improve until we gave him a little bit of time.”
LaFleur didn’t know whether Beck’s prolonged absence in camp will impact how quickly he could get on the field in the regular season, if he were needed.
“I mean, that’s the hypothetical question right now that I couldn’t even answer,” LaFleur said.
Beck’s return before the season starts doesn’t appear likely. LaFleur said it’s still to be determined whether Beck will play in Friday night’s preseason finale against the Packers, but Beck didn’t participate in Wednesday’s joint practice in Green Bay.
Beck’s approach to his first pro training camp wasn’t about judging success.
“I know that’s super cliché to say and being process-oriented, but that’s what it is,” Beck said. “Because again, if they’re dropping back in a zone and we have some type of concept and I’m like, ‘Ooh, I think I can fit that in there.’ Well, now’s the time to try. In the game, the checkdown’s going to be open if they drop into the zone, but you’ll never know if you can make that throw or test through things. And again, it’s all trial and error, trial and error. And for me, again, being new in this offense and just continuing to develop as a rookie and as a new guy, I think these learning moments are so huge.
“But the more reps you get, the more comfortable you become and you kind of start to understand what you’re trying to accomplish.”
For Beck, the preseason was supposed to be a slow, steady build toward the regular season. His transition to the NFL was multifaceted. There was the speed of the game, a new offense to learn, new terminology to memorize and new defenses to learn and decipher. The long days of camp, however, weren’t new to Beck.
His training camps at the University of Georgia under Kirby Smart and at the University of Miami under Mario Cristobal, both disciples of the Nick Saban coaching tree, were “just hell.” Those camps and the Cardinals’ sessions this year were “very similarly structured.”
But the preseason was new to Beck, as it is for all rookies. It’s games that don’t count and is full of bland offenses and defenses -- “The defense isn’t doing anything,” LaFleur said. “We’re not doing anything.” That meant the focus was more on Beck’s operation and process, quarterbacks coach Matt Schaub said.
“The blinders are on,” Schaub said.
He didn’t look too far down the line because Beck simply didn’t know what he didn’t know and it was up to Schaub to teach him. It was a philosophy that Beck embraced.
In order to improve despite not being results-oriented, Beck also had blinders on.
“I think the most simple answer is literally to make the most out of every single rep, but it can’t be the result that you’re looking for,” Beck said. “Just because I throw a completion, I’m like, ‘Oh, that was a good rep.’ But you have no idea. My eyes could have been in the completely wrong spot and the whole, just, coverage was wrong and I got a completion. But if I get the completion, it’s like, ‘oh, that’s a good rep.’ No, my eyes were in the wrong spot. If somebody on defense didn’t bust, I did the rep totally wrong. You know what I’m saying? So, looking at it from that perspective of, am I doing it right?
“And then also just getting mental reps when I’m not in. I think that’s a huge thing that I learned how to do when I was at Georgia when I sat for three years and then started, and really just trying to take advantage of each rep that we get in practice, even though I might not be physically getting it. The mental sweat when you’re behind the play and just making sure that you’re locked in each and every play is something that I feel like is really hard to master, but it’s something that I got a lot of practice at when I was sitting at Georgia.”
