A week after the Ravens’ clumsy effort to dupe the Bears into thinking that quarterback Lamar Jackson will be starting when Tyler Huntley was preparing to play quarterback, the Cardinals are apparently trying to run their own three-card monte game.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals worked out three quarterbacks: Jeff Driskel, Kyle Trask, and Logan Woodside.
On Thursday, coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters that the Cardinals are preparing Murray to start on Monday night in Dallas, after missing two games with a foot sprain. Also on Thursday, the Cardinals canceled Murray’s press conference.
Via Darren Urban of the team’s official website, a “quarterback” will be available later this week.
Last week, the Ravens made Huntley available as the “quarterback” who spoke to the media. Jackson did not talk to reporters at all. (Technically, that was a violation of the NFL’s media policy.)
Eventually, the Cardinals will release an injury report for Thursday. Undoubtedly (and thanks to the very broad range that counts as being a limited participant), Murray will be listed as “limited.” He’ll then possibly be listed as “limited” on Friday and Saturday before receiving a “questionable” designation for the game. On Monday, the Cowboys (and the rest of the world) will find out whether Murray plays.
As long as the Cardinals don’t list Murray as a “full” participant if he doesn’t take every first-team rep in practice, they’ll be in full compliance with the rules. The Ravens’ strategy imploded because they made a mistake (honest or otherwise) when checking the “full” box as to Jackson’s Friday workload.
The ability of the Cardinals to create this deliberate misdirection highlights the flaws of the current rules, while also underscoring the significance of the Ravens’ mistake (honest or otherwise). Even by fully complying with the terms of the policy — and thereby achieving maximum ambiguity as to whether the Cowboys will face Murray or Jacoby Brissett — the approach results in a key piece of inside information as to which quarterback will play.
Surely, the Cardinals have a pretty good idea as to which quarterback will play. They’re doing what they can, apparently, to keep that a secret.
Given what happened last week, they presumably won’t cross the line. The point is that, even by staying on the right side of the rule, the Cardinals can strategically keep the Cowboys in the dark. And, within the Arizona building, multiple people will know the truth.
Earlier this week, a G.M. from a team other than the Ravens contacted PFT to explain that NFL teams view the messages sent by the injury report as a matter of competitive strategy, not gambling. If that’s the prevailing view, the prevailing view is misguided.
“The Personnel (Injury) Report Policy has been a cornerstone of public confidence in the NFL for many decades,” the first line of the policy states. “The credibility of the NFL, its teams, and team personnel requires full compliance with and uniform enforcement of the Policy.”
The next two paragraphs of the policy say this: “The legalization of sports betting has resulted in an increased awareness of the need to strike a careful balance between potential competitive interests and the preservation of public confidence in the integrity of the game, which requires the prompt disclosure of information that may influence on-field performance or the outcome of a game, including the availability of coaches and players. Complete transparency with respect to such information is of the utmost importance in ensuring the integrity of our game, preventing someone from gaining an advantage from perceived ‘inside information,’ and preventing the perception that ‘insiders’ are misusing the information.”
The policy isn’t about competitive strategy. It’s about balancing that objective against the potential misuse of inside information. The Cardinals’ approach — even if fully compliant with the policy — shows that the balance created by the policy badly needs to be recalibrated.
In light of last week’s mistake (honest or otherwise) by the Ravens, the current ruse the Cardinals are attempting to perpetrate has a much different feel. Which makes it even more clear that the injury policy requires a complete overhaul, as soon as possible.
