Exactly 364 days after he quarterbacked the Bears to a 23-17 overtime victory against the Steelers — his only win in the four games he started with the team — Mike Glennon will be on the opposing sideline Sunday as a member of the Cardinals.
With the Cardinals leaning on starter Sam Bradford and first-round pick Josh Rosen as Bradford’s backup, it will take two injuries for Glennon, who figures to be inactive for a third consecutive game, to see the field.
That wasn’t necessarily the plan when Glennon signed a two-year, $8 million deal — with $4 million guaranteed — to play for Arizona. Sound familiar?
This time, though, Glennon was bounced from his backup seat when Rosen, a UCLA alum, was unexpectedly available with the 10th pick of the draft. The Cardinals moved up five spots from No. 15, giving the Raiders third- and fifth-round picks.
“Mike has been great — he’s a pro’s pro,” Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said Wednesday. “When you go back and look at what we had when we first got here, we didn’t have a quarterback on the roster. To get him, as well as Sam, was a major plus. You didn’t know how the draft was gonna go. We were very fortunate to get Rosen.”
Like it was for the Bears’ final 12 games last year, Glennon’s role is to mentor a younger QB.
“I just love his approach each day coming to work,” Wilks said.
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Glennon also shares practice-squad duties, Wilks said. That means he’ll spend this week pretending to be Mitch Trubisky, who took his job in Week 5 last season.
Floyd on club
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd hopes to minimize the club on his right hand — if not play without it altogether — on Sunday. He planned to talk to the team’s training staff about it.
“Most definitely wanna downsize — at least have something with my fingers free or some of my hand free,” Floyd said.
Floyd, who had surgery on his broken hand a month ago, said he’s eager to play without the club. It inhibited his ability to recover a fumble Monday night and has hurt his effectiveness in general.
With a Week 5 bye, though, the Bears could wait another two weeks.
This and that
Guard Kyle Long’s right ankle was in better shape than the week before, when the Bears held him out of two practices.
“I feel really good,” said Long, who had surgery to repair ligament damage in the ankle in November 2016. “I’m excited to go to Arizona and play.”
† Coach Matt Nagy said practice was “more mental than physical” as his players’ bodies recover from the game Monday. The injury report showed only safety DeAndre Houston-Carson was limited as he continues his recovery from a broken forearm.
