INDIANAPOLIS -- The Arizona Cardinals' team president emphatically supported Josh Rosen. The new head coach consistently backed the incumbent QB.
The GM?
Less definite.
Speaking Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim played evasive when asked about the team's potential of drafting Kyler Murray No. 1 overall.
"It's still early in the process," Keim said. "We haven't gone through our full evaluation at all the position, so really it's, again, too early to say."
When pressed about whether Rosen was the team's quarterback, the GM chose his words very carefully.
"Is Josh Rosen our quarterback? Yeah, he is, right now, for sure," Keim said.
That's certainly not Josh is the QB, shut down the Murray with the first pick talk. We've got Josh's back and will support him.
Keim's less emphatic comments will only fuel the link between Murray and the Cardinals. It was clear the GM was choosing his words judiciously.
The other argument for Keim's lukewarm comments: He's trying to build interest in other teams trading up to the No. 1 spot.
While the GM does his own dance, new coach Kliff Kingsbury continued to support Rosen.
"Josh knows where he stands with us," the coach said on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "They picked him top 10 for a reason. He knows it's a business and knows it's all part of the process. Tremendously talented thrower of the football. We want to build around him."
Later at the full media scrum, Kingsbury scoffed at the notion that Rosen might not be a great fit for the Cardinals' new offense.
"We're big on adapting our offense to our quarterback and our personnel," he said. "We've had all types in this system. And, so, I don't think that is very relevant (for Rosen). He's a tremendous talent. I felt like he got better as the season went on last year. Showed a lot of mental toughness and competitiveness, and so I don't think it's a relevant argument."
Kingsbury glowed about Rosen's resilience last season when he struggled mightily as a rookie.
"The talent is obviously there," he said. "Very cerebral. And I just like the way he fought at the end of the year, facing adverse conditions, never turned it down, continued to get up, continued to fight and compete his tail off until the end."
The Cards seem to be walking two different paths simultaneously in regards to Rosen's future. While the coach stumps for the player, the GM keeps the door cracked for other possibilities.
Such is the NFL life in late February.
