Drew Stanton

Cardinals beat writer Josh Weinfuss on the team's Week 6 QB situation: I think Arizona will try to get Carson Palmer as ready as he can be and make a game-time decision. But the nature of his nerve injury is so fickle that it could flare up at any point. Backup Drew Stanton was in rough shape after the game Sunday. He wore sunglasses in the locker room and looked to have trouble putting on his tie, so the only way he can play this weekend is if he goes through the concussion protocol and is symptom-free. He threw in Wednesday’s practice even though he still hasn’t finished the protocol. My best guess is Logan Thomas will start. He is taking all the reps with the first team this week, and the game plan will be built around him. If, in fact, he does go, I don’t think Bruce Arians will open up a lot of the playbook for him. He had one really good preseason game and one really bad one. Getting a quarter and a half with the first team in live game action helped Thomas understand what Sundays in the NFL are really like, so expect a lot of short plays. Arians will tailor the playbook to what Thomas likes, knows and can do. There will be some running plays called to take advantage of Thomas’ athleticism and a few deep throws because he has a strong arm, but expect the offense to be bland and basic because it would still be the kid’s first NFL start.

Palmer and/or Stanton could still get healthy enough to play, but neither is looking good for Week 6. Thomas has a big arm, which might mean a deep ball or two to Michael Floyd, but it's hard to count on an inexperienced quarterback coming in and running the offense efficiently. The good news is that a matchup with a not-so-good Washington pass defense will make life easier.