NFL

McSorley to make first career start for Cardinals with McCoy and Murray out

By Sports Desk December 21, 2022

Fourth-season quarterback Trace McSorley will make his first career start when the Arizona Cardinals take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury confirmed that the third-string quarterback would start after McCoy suffered a concussion in their Week 15 loss to the Denver Broncos after Murray tore his ACL in their Week 14 defeat to the New England Patriots.

McSorley, 27, was taken by the Baltimore Ravens with a sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft before moving to the Cardinals in 2021.

"He's one of those guys, I hate to use the term 'gamer,' but he's got a lot of moxie, plays with a lot of confidence," Kingsbury told reporters about McSorley. "Teammates respond to that.

"He's mobile, can move around. He had a couple of throws you'd like to have back, but he had a couple of scoring drives.

"I just want to see how he does with some reps. It's not easy to go in there without any reps, basically throughout the entire season, with the first-team offense, so excited to see how he can perform with some reps this week."

Kingsbury said that McCoy was "feeling a lot better" in concussion protocol, making "encouraging" progress which may mean McSorley's stint as starter is brief.

But McSorley was excited about the chance to play on Christmas evening against Tom Brady.

"It's an exciting opportunity," McSorley said. "I always want to let myself feel that excitement and feel that a little bit just so I can enjoy the moment but at the same time just being focused and ready to go."

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