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josh weinfuss
multiple authors
TEMPE, Ariz. – On the eve of rookie minicamp, Arizona Cardinals third round pick carson beck Said Thursday that his right hand, which was injured by quarterback 2024, is “the strongest it’s ever been.”
Beck said he feels like he’s been throwing the ball “pretty well lately,” about 18 months after surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, which was torn to the bone on the final play of the first half of the 2024 SEC Championship Game. He avoided full-blown Tommy John surgery because the UCL was not torn in half.
Beck said his hand started feeling “pretty good” at the end of the 2025 season, which Beck played at the University of Miami after transferring from Georgia, and in the College Football Playoff. Beck led the Hurricanes to the CFP National Championship Game, winning three contests before losing to Indiana 27–21 in the title game.
“Again, my arm feels great,” Beck said. “It’s been a while now, but I think I’ve been able to really improve on it and have an offseason to train and focus on it compared to last year where I had surgery, I’m rehabbing, I’m trying to learn a new offense, you’re not really able to focus on small, microscopic details like that.
“I think that’s really helped me be successful this offseason.”
Beck spent this off-season in the draft working on the fluidity of his throwing motion and focusing on his mechanics, making sure they are “absolutely 100% and exactly what I want them to be.”
Shortly after his injury in December 2024, which caused him to miss the College Football Playoff that season, Beck said he was constantly battling two competing mindsets: Will he ever get back to 100%, or is getting there just a matter of time?
“Obviously, at the quarterback position, this is probably the worst injury you can have,” Beck said.
“You want to tell yourself, always, it’s going to be OK. It’s just going to take time. You just have to trust the process, and there’s a lot of really good people around you that are going to help you get back to where you were. But then it’s been two months and you haven’t even played football yet and you’re sitting there and it’s mentally hard on you.”
Beck’s return to throwing took place in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, where he began by throwing a 10-yard pass. At the time, that was what he was instructed to do, but Beck said it was all he could do at that point in his recovery.
After two weeks of light, 10-yard throwing, he began throwing his passes again.
He was instructed to “let it rip”, but he was hesitant, and with good reason. The last time he made a long throw, he tore his UCL.
“it [was] It’s hard to get over that mental pressure and mental barrier,” Beck said. “But they’re like, ‘Just rip one off.’ And I just got all set and my arm was fine and I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to be good.'”
His recovery process gave Beck a new perspective, he said. This also fueled his internal fire.
He said, “Just realizing, man, I just want to be out there. I want to play football. This sucks.” “It was obviously a tough time for me and a tough situation to go through, but again, the people of Miami really rallied around me at that time and everyone from the trainers to the coaches to the teammates really helped me.”
Beck will take the field as an NFL quarterback for the first time on Friday, the first day of Arizona’s rookie minicamp. He reported Thursday after spending nearly a week on video calls with quarterbacks coach Matt Schaub and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, looking at the playbook and talking about how they approach the game.
Coach Mike LaFleur has said that Beck could play as a rookie on the field if he outperforms the veteran quarterbacks on the roster. Jacoby Brissett And Gardner Minshew II.
Beck said he views every day as a “learning experience” and this includes practices and game experiences as well as meetings.
“Just talking to people around the facility, just trying to get as little breadcrumbs as possible from each person,” Beck said. “But, still, everybody wants to play football, especially at the quarterback position. You want to be the player there.”
However, Beck isn’t worried about that right now.
“I think, for me, the most important thing is A, getting in the building. I started meeting with the coaches and going over the playbook and learning the guys around me, building relationships, starting to connect with them, being myself and then going to play ball, have fun, enjoy the process,” Beck said. “But, again, try to improve and get better every day. And if I continue to do that, I think we’ll see where it takes you.”
He can be on the bench, learning from Brissett and Minshew, or on the field, leading Arizona to a three-win season as the starting quarterback.
