Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb aware of tough competition – NFL News
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb, who had an injury-riddled season, said on Monday that he was well aware of tough competition he would face next year in the presence of John Skelton and third-string quarterback Rich Bartel.
Owing to different injuries, Kolb was forced to miss eight games in the just-concluded regular season. His place was taken by Skelton, who is determined to become a regular starter in 2012 season.
Kolb missed the last few games due to concussion from which he is still trying to recover. He admitted that the next season is going to be one of the most important years of his professional career where he will have to deal with two major challenges.
Apart from performing well, he should prevent himself from taking more hits, which could end his career.
“I don’t know if I want to put that kind of pressure on myself, but that’s kind of how it feels,” Kolb said. “I am really looking forward to next season. I think we have big things ahead of us. That’s my gut feeling.”
Kolb completed 146 of 253 attempted passes for 1,955 yards while throwing nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine games this season. He received a quarterback rating of 81.1.
On the other hand, Skelton, who is playing his second professional season, is also emerging as a strong candidate to replace Kolb as starter.
While playing eight games and starting seven in the regular season, Skelton completed 151 passes of 275 attempts for 1,913 yards. He threw 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions and received a quarterback rating of 68.9.
Recalling his mistakes, Skelton vowed to improve next year and said that he needed to get better.
Meanwhile, Coach Ken Whisenhunt, as always, played his cards close to his chest and refrained from telling anything about the next season. However, he constantly asserted that the best performer would make it to the starting line-up.
“One thing that’s been consistent is we’re always going to play the best player,” he said. “As far as how those guys stack up or where they are, that’s all part of the evaluations we do in the offseason. … I’m excited about all three of our quarterbacks.”
Mentioning the third quarterback might have rung alarm bells for Kolb.
The 28-year-old third-stringer, Bartel, has spent four seasons on the bench. Out of them two were with the Cardinals. This season, he participated in two games where he completed 10 of 22 attempted passes for 86 yards while throwing one touchdown and an
interception.
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