Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt says there is no reason to even address a potential decision at quarterback as long as Kevin Kolb is injured.
Backup John Skelton has had two uneven performances, but they were both victories. On Sunday, he led Arizona to a 21-17 win in Philadelphia, where the big second-year pro overcame two interceptions to direct three long drives that each ended with a touchdown pass.
Kolb was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia and signed to a five-year, $63 million contract -- $21 million guaranteed -- as Arizona's quarterback of the future. The game in which he was injured was Arizona's sixth loss in a row, and Kolb has not practiced for two weeks.
The Cardinalsplay at the NFC West's runaway leader San Francisco next Sunday.
"Kevin is doing everything he can to get healthy again and get back on the field," Skelton told the NFL Network on Monday. "He's a competitor and he wants to be out there just as bad as anyone. That's not for me to say or me to speculate about. It's really up to the coaching staff. I'm sure if Kevin's healthy, he'll be able to go."
After he had addressed a similar question, Whisenhunt was asked directly Monday if there was a chance Skelton would get the start even if Kolb was healthy.
"I know that you're going to try to ask this question a bunch of times," he said. "I understand that. I understand the point of discussion. Where we are right now, it doesn't matter. Until we get Kevin back out there and practicing and we can assess where he is after having missed a couple of weeks, you can't even talk about that, to be honest with you."
Skelton had an interception returned for a touchdown and another pick set up a field goal. But after each interception, the Cardinals answered with long touchdown drives. On third-and-goal at the Eagles 5-yard line, Skelton threw a touchdown pass to Early Doucet for the game-winner with 1:53 to play.
The victory snapped an 11-game road losing streak dating to the 2010 season opener at St. Louis. Arizona hadn't won on the East Coast since beating the New York Giants two years ago.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press