Injuries happen, but injuries to quarterbacks in the preseason scare teams. Luckily for the Arizona Cardinals, the injuries that have been suffered are happening to players not named Kevin Kolb. However, injuries have changed the depth chart and the roster at the QB position.
Max Hall injured his shoulder at practice on Monday, suffering a left shoulder subluxation. In other words, he separated his shoulder, which happened to end his season in 2010. It would seem that Hall's magical days as a member of the Cardinals are numbered.
John Skelton also is sidelined with a high ankle sprain, and it is unknown how long he will be out. Skelton did tweet out on Tuesday night that his ankle was feeling better and that he was "not gonna rule out anything."
In any case, for the time being, Richard Bartel now slides into the number two slot behind Kevin Kolb and newly signed Brodie Croyle takes over the number three slot. He will be, more likely than not, just a camp body to run with the third team, unless he can really impress in the last couple of weeks of the preseason.
Even before Hall got hurt, it seemed like Kolb, Skelton and Bartel would end up being the three QBs the Cards would carry. Unless Skelton's ankle turns into something that will sideline him long-term, his roster spot is safe. Bartel has performed well in his role and actually changed the makeup and feel of the QB team. He helped Hall and Skelton quite a bit, as he had a couple of years of the NFL under his belt (even though he had never taken a snap).
Of course, since all this deals with everyone at the QB position not named Kevin Kolb, all is well. After all, if Kolb is healthy it really doesn't matter if John Skelton, Rich Bartel or Tom Tupa are backing him up.
And if Kolb were to go down for any length of time, we all know what type of season we can expect. It would be 2010 all over again.