Cardinals Lose Minshew for Season with Torn Ligament

The Arizona Cardinals lost their starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2026 season when Gardner Minshew suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm. Head coach Mike LaFleur initially announced that the injury would likely keep Minshew out of the upcoming matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Subsequent medical reports confirmed the severity of the damage, indicating the player will undergo months of rehabilitation.

Minshew sustained the injury before halftime during last week’s contest against the Seattle Seahawks. Despite the pain, he remained on the field for the second half. The Cardinals fell to the Seahawks by a score of 17 to 3 in that game. The loss dropped the Arizona record to three wins and six losses, leaving the team in fourth place within the NFC West.

Carson Beck will assume the starting role if Minshew is ruled out. Beck, a two time College Football Playoff national champion, has not yet appeared in an NFL game. He was selected in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft with the 65th overall pick. If he takes the field, he will become the third rookie quarterback to start this season, joining Jalon Daniels of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Athan Kaliakmanis of the Washington Commanders.

Beck spent five years playing at Georgia before concluding his collegiate career at the University of Miami. In his final college season, he recorded 338 completions for 3,813 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also threw 12 interceptions while maintaining a 72.4 percent completion rate, both of which were conference highs. Across his 55 college games, his totals stood at 966 completions for 11,725 yards and 88 touchdowns.

The Cardinals moved quickly to secure a backup quarterback following the injury. On Monday, the team signed Josh Johnson from the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. This move marks Johnson’s 15th NFL team in his 14 seasons in the league. The team previously relied on Jacoby Brissett to start the year, but he was benched by the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month.

Minshew started two games for Arizona after replacing Brissett during the third quarter of the November 1 game against the Cowboys. In that span, he completed 71.7 percent of his passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. His record in those starts was zero wins and one loss.