For Miami Hurricanes fans, the latest news out of Arizona lands with a mix of pride and familiar caution.
Carson Beck, the quarterback who spent one unforgettable season in Coral Gables, is working his way back from a minor rib injury as the Cardinals close out the preseason.
The good news? Beck will make the team. The bad news? He didn’t get enough work in training camp.
Arizona insider John Gambodoro’s update makes clear the former Hurricane is expected to open the year on the active roster rather than injured reserve, even if he lost a stretch of valuable live reps after flashing so brightly in his first professional appearance.
Beck arrived at Miami after years at Georgia and immediately became the centerpiece of an offense that carried the Hurricanes all the way to the College Football Playoff national championship game. In 16 starts he completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 3,813 yards and 30 touchdowns.
That completion rate set a single-season program mark. He also delivered one of the signature moments of the year, a go-ahead rushing touchdown with 18 seconds left that beat Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl and punched Miami’s ticket to the title game.
The late interception in the championship loss to Indiana still stings, but the body of work was enough to send him to the NFL as a third-round pick, 65th overall, by Arizona.
His professional debut in the Hall of Fame Game against Carolina looked like a continuation of that Miami form. Beck completed 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown, showing the arm strength and poise that had Canes supporters believing he would translate. Then came the rib issue on a scramble.
The Cardinals have been careful since, and the missed preseason snaps are a genuine loss for a rookie still learning a new system. Yet the latest report from John Gambadoro is encouraging: the injury is not expected to land him on injured reserve, and he should be available when the regular season begins.
From South Florida the view is straightforward. Beck already proved he could handle the spotlight in the biggest games college football offers.
Jacoby Brissett is the established starter in Arizona, so Beck’s first NFL start may not arrive until later in the year, perhaps around the Week 12 matchup with Washington.
That wait is frustrating after such a promising first look, but it is the kind of patience Miami fans have learned to practice with their former players. The rib setback is a speed bump, not a detour.
Beck remains the most recent Hurricane quarterback to reach the league after Cam Ward, and the program’s latest product is still positioned to write the next chapter.
Canes supporters will be watching the desert, hoping the kid who helped take Miami to the brink of a national title gets his chance to show what he can do on Sundays.
