How much will the Arizona Cardinals starters play in their preseason opener Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers? Head coach Kliff Kingsbury isn’t sure yet.
Based on comments he made, it would appear that rookie quarterback Kyler Murray might get one series.
As for other starters, Kingsbury doesn’t have an overall plan that fits everyone.
“It’s going to be case by case, and we’re going to see how we feel about certain players,” he told reporters Saturday, “and if we think they need to work, they’ll get work. And if we don’t they won’t.”
He added, “The trend throughout the league seems to be less of the name players playing, so I could see it continuing to go that way.”
That would mean potentially no Larry Fitzgerald and no David Johnson on offense, with other veterans on defense sitting out.
Specifically speaking about Johnson, Kingsbury said: “We want to make sure that by Game 1 he’s at his peak. Whatever it takes to do that as a staff and with him, we’ll figure it out and go from there.”
As for the offensive line, it appears he will leave them in longer than Murray. Kingsbury wants to give backup QB Brett Hundley some reps behind what he called “a very good offensive line.”
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