Arizona Cardinals Select John Skelton As Starting Quarterback

At the 2:00 pm press conference this afternoon, it was announce by Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt that John Skelton would be the starting quarterback heading into the regular season. He said that the team is still in the process of finalizing the remaining 53 man roster, partly because of some injuries that happened in last nights final preseason game, but essentially they know what their roster is right now. Coach Whisenhunt met with those players today at 12:30 pm, and notified the players in the meeting that, "this is essentially the team moving forward." At the same time, he said that the Cardinals will be looking for opportunities to improve the team, as they do every year. They will also add eight more players to the practice squad at a later date.

The process of selecting the starting quarterback was a process that took the course over the off-season and throughout the entire preseason. When making the announcement, coach Whisenhunt said, "Taking everything into account, it's fair to say at this point going forward, we feel like the quarterback that gives us the best chance to win right now is John Skelton, and that's the direction that we are going to go." Coach Whisenhunt would not go into any details or specifics regarding the decision.

Coach Whisenhunt spoke with both quarterbacks today and informed them of the decision, and both Kevin Kolb and John Skelton know their expectations moving forward. Whisenhunt said that this is truly the first off-season Skelton has had, and that Skelton has worked hard at it, and Whisenhunt has seen progress in the young quarterback.

When asked about how Kevin Kolb took the news, Coach Whisenhunt said, "He was disappointed," but that, "He handled it like a pro." It was made perfectly clear to Kolb, that he has to be ready at any time throughout the long, grueling season. Whisenhunt said that he is not disappointed in Kolb, and that both Kolb and Skelton have worked very hard. When Skelton heard that he was selected as the starting quarterback, he was obviously excited. Coach Whisenhunt reiterated that, "It was not an easy decision."

It was interesting when Coach Whisenhunt said that "We haven't talked about it with the team," when asked how the team reacted to naming the starting quarterback. "They don't know," was Coach Whisenhunt's response.

Coach Whisenhunt said that he is "very confident" that the Cardinals will have a successful season. He is confident in the players, likes the way they believe in each other, and they expect to have success. Whisenhunt said that last year the team did not meet their expectations, and they are heading into this season expecting to do better.