Former Alabama QB Jake Coker battling for roster spot with Arizona Cardinals
Former Alabama QB Jake Coker, who led the Tide to a national championship last season, is trying to catch on with an NFL team.
Signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent, Coker is working to make a name for himself in training camp. However, the results haven’t been great so far.
Locked in a battle with former USC QB Matt Barkley, neither has stood out as a viable option for the No. 3 quarterback spot for Arizona. According to an AZCentral.com article, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians doesn’t sound thrilled with either option at this point:
Up and down,” Arians said of Barkley and Coker. “They are a yo-yo.”
Asked whether the competition was close to be the third quarterback, Arians said, “they both have to step up to be one.”
Coker said he’s trying to play as if his roster spot is secure. If he can do that, he said he should start playing better:
“I just want to go out there and have fun,” Coker said. “If you’re thinking about anything else, you’re putting pressure on yourself.”
During college, Coker said, there were times he tried to do too much “instead of taking what was given and having fun instead of thinking about all the other things that were going on.”
It’ll be tough for Coker to land Barkley’s roster spot, especially since Barkley spent the 2015 season working with the Arizona offense.
But, if he can make the most of his preseason repetitions, the Cardinals or some other team might take a flyer on the ex-Alabama quarterback.