The Cardinals are facing a pretty big decision for Sunday's game in Seattle against the Seahawks.
Do they play Kyler Murray at less than 100% in hopes of righting a ship that has now lost two out of their last three games or do they take advantage of their bye week in Week 12 and get Kyler two additional weeks of rest for the price of one?
Maybe it's as simple as the decision will be made for them. Perhaps Kyler's "ankle sprain" is a more significant injury than they have let on and there's no decision to be made, just doctors orders to follow.
On the surface, the Seahawks don't present much of a challenge. In Week 10, they were shutout for the first time in over a decade and their defense remains one of the worst in the NFC. Couldn't the 49ers reasonably hope to beat Seattle on the road, where they are 2.5 road favorites, without Kyler a la the San Francisco game from a few weeks ago?
Not if Colt McCoy is injured, as he was in Week 10. Chris Streveler isn't beating any NFL team, much less a desperate, embarrassed Seahawks team.
So instead of guessing, I asked our weekly guest Donovan McNabb what the Cardinals should do with Kyler in Week 11 and here were his thoughts:
"If Kyler is 75-85 percent, I think he should give it a go. You have to be able to kick the rust off and adjust back to the speed of where the game was when you left. We all know that (TNF Game against the Packers) when he last played, he didn't fare well at the end. I think if he would have won that game then there would be a little more confidence going forward."
But that wasn't the end of McNabb's insights on the Cardinals franchise quarterback. After starring in the NFL for over a decade, McNabb offered his educated guess on the severity of the injury to Murray and whether the Cardinals have been less the forthcoming about it publicly:
"I think Kyler has a high ankle sprain. I think that's a 6-8 week injury. We're pushing now being on 4 weeks now. I personally don't think he's ready (to play) and (the Cardinals) never mentioned the severity of the ankle injury."
As of now, the Cardinals have only said that Kyler's status will "be close" for this week's game against the Seahawks.
Sit Kyler and they risk losing three of four and all of the momentum of the first nine games of the season. NFL seasons are Netflix shows you are bingeing where you can just pause the show and pick it up right where you left off whenever you want. You need momentum. You need a body of work. You need confidence.
The Cardinals had all of that in bunches to start the season but now they are in danger of losing it all because of an ankle sprain.
I'm glad I'm not the one making the decision.