The 1-3 Arizona Cardinals are desperate for a win but will need to earn it without Carson Palmer.
The team announced the starting quarterback will not play Thursday night versus the San Francisco 49ers.
Drew Stanton will make his first start of the season.
Palmer suffered a concussion on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Coach Bruce Arians said Palmer made progress in recovery, but won't travel with the team out of precaution.
Palmer got off to a slow start this season, throwing five interceptions through four games and struggling with his deep ball (40.5 passer rating on 15-plus air yard passes; earned a 104.7 passer rating on such balls last season).
It's Stanton's first start since 2014 when he made eight in place of Palmer (shoulder, ACL). Stanton is 7-5 in his career as a starter -- 5-3 in 2014.
Stanton can run Arians' offense well enough, but he doesn't have the downfield prowess of Palmer and struggles with accuracy and fitting balls into tight windows.
Stanton completed 4 of 11 passes (36.4 percent) for 37 yards and two interceptions in relief last Sunday.
Stanton is a career 54 percent passer. In his 2014 season, he set a career-high with a 7.1 yards per pass average -- that mark would currently place him 23rd in 2016.
The Cardinals should lean heavily on David Johnson and Andre Ellington on Thursday against a 49ers defense that has given up 165.7 rushing yards per game over Week 2-4.
