David Blough to start season finale at QB for Cardinals; Kyler Murray surgery complete

David Blough will get one more look at quarterback, as Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury named him the starter in the season finale against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday afternoon at Levi's Stadium.

Colt McCoy will be shut down for the rest of the season. The Cardinals backup quarterback suffered a concussion and after missing last week's game was replaced by Blough, but appeared healthy enough to go this week.

However, Kingsbury decided to stick with Blough, who in his sixth career NFL start and first since his rookie season of 2019 completed 24 of 40 passes for 222 yards including a touchdown in the Cardinals' 20-19 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Kingsbury said he wants to allow Blough to have a full week of preparation as opposed to a much shorter time to practice as the starter leading up to last Sunday's game.

"We need him next year, particularly with the situation we have currently there with Kyler (Murray)," Kingsbury said of McCoy. "So we'll let David have at it and see how it goes."

Murray's surgery for a torn ACL happened Tuesday, Kingsbury confirmed. He texted Murray and said things went well, and Murray shared a photo of himself from a hospital room.

"ACL surgery was successful, thank you for all the love and prayers,'' I appreciate the support and positivity more than I can express. I'll be back,'' Murray posted along with the photo.

Kingsbury expects Murray to make a strong return.

"So now starts rehabbing. I know he was excited to get it done and get moving forward," Kingsbury said. "He's never been through this, obviously. But he's excited, it can be kind of a reset for him. We know we had our struggles this year offensively and we feel like we can play at a much higher level, and I think he understands that he can build himself back better and attack this thing. I think that's how he's viewing it. So it's kind of a a reset, you know, where he takes it now is kind of what's going to define his career."

Kingsbury was asked about the difficulty of shutting down McCoy, and if Blough is playing for consideration as the third quarterback next season.

"It was tough. Yeah, he wanted to play and it's just in our situation with like I said, the impending, probably not having Kyler start the year, it's the right thing to do," Kingsbury said of McCoy.

"I wouldn't say that. Like I said I want to see what he can do with a full week and just kind of go from there," he said of Blough's situation.

Hopkins out

Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was ruled out for Sunday with a knee injury that caused him to miss last week's game as well. So his season is over, and with Rondale Moore on injured reserve with a groin issue (and apparently a broken finger as seen in a social media post shared on Twitter Wednesday) and Robbie Anderson injured last week, Kingsbury said the Cardinals will go with Hollywood Brown, Greg Dortch and A.J. Green against the 49ers.

Brown had a wrist injury from last week's game, Kingsbury said, but is OK.

"It's definitely something that's been nagging, his knee injury, and so we're just going to be cautious this last one," Kingsbury said of Hopkins.

The Cardinals added wide receiver depth by signing two big targets in Isaiah Coulter and Auden Tate to the practice squad and releasing offensive lineman Koda Martin from that unit. Coulter is a former fifth-round pick of the Houston Texans (2020) and Tate has four years of NFL experience with 35 games. He spent all of those with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Running back James Conner injured a shin last week and is day to day, with the hope that he does some on-field work Friday or Saturday.

Thoughts of Damar Hamlin

Kingsbury and offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum were asked about Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and the life-threatening injury from Monday night's Buffalo-Cincinnati game that has him in the hospital in critical condition.

"Anytime you see that, you know, it's a fraternity for those guys. And it's just more concern for Damar, his family, his well being," Kingsbury said. "There's guys on our team that have been with the Bills, and know him or played with him in college. So you hear different stories about the tough person he is, a phenomenal human being and all this, and you just hope for the best."

Beachum said players are "kind of numb" to such a frightening moment. He called his parents Monday night to talk about what happened and hear his father's perspective.

"You're tasked with playing the game week in and week out. And you sense something and you see something and you feel something like that, that happens on Monday night and your heart goes out for the family. Your heart goes out for Damar. And you just don't know how to cope with it," Beachum said. "We talk about it amongst each other, you know, praying for them, and we're trying to find a way to play football in spite of. But there is really nothing that can be done, nothing that can be said. Nothing that can help change what you saw and what you felt when you saw it."

Beachum, Baker honored by PFWA

Beachum and Cardinals safety Budda Baker, out for the season due to injury, were presented awards Wednesday by the Arizona chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Baker received the Lloyd Herberg MVP Award for his outstanding performance this year and Beachum is the Steve Schoenfeld Good Guy Award for his cooperation and insight in dealing with the media in what has been a tumultuous 2022 season.

Baker, named a Pro Bowler, finished the 2022 season with 111 tackles. He's the only defensive back in the NFL with at least four seasons of 100-plus tackles.

The MVP award was named after Herberg, a former Cardinals beat writer for the Arizona Republic. Herberg covered the Cardinals from 1988, when the team moved to Arizona, until his death in May 1994.

Beachum was recognized for being available, insightful and professional in dealings with reporters. He is the only offensive player to start all 16 games this season.

The Good Guy award is named after another former Arizona Republic writer, the late Steve Schoenfeld, who covered the Cardinals and the NFL for the Republic from 1988 to 2000.

"Really appreciate it. You all have been so gracious to us this year, considering all things," Beachum told a roomful of reporters at Cardinals headquarters. "So hats off to you all as well."

Chapter president and Republic sports columnist Kent Somers presented the awards.

Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM. 

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals go back to David Blough at QB; Kyler Murray surgery done