The Josh Rosen era appears to be underway in the desert.
The Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback replaced Sam Bradford for the final minutes of Sunday's 16-14 loss to the Chicago Bears.
"Well, I felt like we needed a spark," coach Steve Wilks said after the game. "Again, we got out to an early start, 14 points, got a little stagnant there and wanted to try to spark the time, and that's the reason why I made that decision."
Rosen got two chances to drive the Cardinals for a potential game-winning field goal or TD, but the green signal-caller was unable to make the most of either opportunity. Rosen finished 4 of 7 for 36 yards with an interception.
"Thought he looked pretty good," Wilks said of Rosen. "Inconsistent in the end. We've got to do a good job for his protection, giving him time. But under the circumstances right there, being thrown into the game at that time, I thought he did well."
"I got to get out there and understand (playing), get the feel of a real NFL game," Rosen said, according to the team's website. "But I definitely can play a lot better."
The Cards got off to a hot start behind three big passing plays from Sam Bradford, including a 21-yard touchdown toss to running back David Johnson that put Arizona up 14-0.
Bradford and the Cardinals offense went into the freezer after the first quarter.
On the next six possessions, Arizona earned a total of 69 yards. Bradford turned the ball over on the final three drives of the stretch, including two interceptions. The final straw for the starting quarterback was a fumble as the Cardinals were driving into scoring territory.
"I'm not really sure (what happened)," Bradford said. "We got off to a fast start and then kind of the same thing, it seemed like. We didn't convert on third down and then it's halftime and we've run 15 plays again."
Bradford finished the day 13-of-19 passing for 157 yards, three sacks, two touchdowns and two picks. He had four plays big passing plays of 35, 32, 30, and 21 yards. Outside of those four completions, he earned just 40 yards on 15 passes.
After the home loss, Wilks wouldn't commit to Rosen starting in Week 4 versus Seattle.
"We're going to evaluate Josh as well as Sam and we'll watch the tape and we'll see exactly what I want to do as far as moving forward with that," he said.
Rosen, drafted No. 10 overall, was viewed as the most pro-ready rookie quarterback. His time to prove should start now, even if Wilks wouldn't say it after the loss.
