Former Cougars QB Minshew returns to Washington with Arizona to face the Seahawks

The Cardinals are looking for quarterback Gardner Minshew to recapture some of his Washington State magic on Sunday when Arizona visits the Seattle Seahawks.

Minshew, who excelled for the Cougars under the late coach Mike Leach, has taken over as starter for the Cardinals after leading Arizona to a come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Cowboys last weekend.

Minshew was selected as the Cardinals' new starter on Tuesday, supplanting Jacoby Brissett, ahead of Sunday's game. Brissett, meanwhile, is headed to the Baltimore Ravens.

Minshew is familiar to Washington football fans, having played his senior season for the Cougars in Pullman on the east side of the state. Under Leach's Air Raid offense, Minshew set a Pac-12 record for passing yards in 2018.

Seahawks tackle Abe Lucas was on that Washington State team, too.

“He’s a hell of a guy and hell of a player. I can’t say enough great things about him. I’d love to see him have success and be in the NFL as long as he’s been and just continue to go until the wheels fall off,” Lucas said. "Obviously, I want to beat him this week, but I am just happy for him. I love the guy.”

Washington State won a school-record 11 games, including an Alamo Bowl victory, in Minshew's single season with the Cougars. He won Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors before he was a sixth-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Minshew has bounced around the NFL since then, landing with the Cardinals this season on a one-year deal worth $5.75 million.

He said he was grateful for the opportunities that came from his time at Washington State.

“To be here now, it’s still hard to wrap my head around it. (I’m) so grateful for it (and) so fired up to be headed back up there where so many people were so good to me,” Minshew said of the trip to the Pacific Northwest. "Yeah, I always think about that going up there.”

He'll face a Seahawks team that is coming off a 34-17 loss at home on Monday night to the Chicago Bears, which dropped the defending Super Bowl champions to 4-4.

The Seahawks are also shuffling their quarterbacks. Sam Darnold has been ruled out of Sunday's game because of a quad injury and backup Drew Lock is set to take his place.

Darnold was hurt on the final drive of the loss to the Bears. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Darnold also cracked a rib early in the game.