Warner to start for Cardinals

There was no drum roll, just a simple announcement: “The person who best gives us a chance to win next Sunday at San Francisco is Kurt Warner,” said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt, who indicated he wrestled with the decision from Friday night through Saturday morning.

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And so the long-running saga of the Cardinals’ starting quarterback seems over for now, barring injury.

Whisenhunt, asked if Matt Leinart is still the quarterback of the team’s future, replied, “I would say so.

“He’s started 16 games in this league. That’s not a lot of games.

“I’ve been around a number of young quarterbacks. It takes time. I’ve seen him grow tremendously. You can see it on the field.”

Whisenhunt praised Leinart for bouncing back from his poor showing a week ago at Oakland with a strong performance vs. Denver.

“He did a great job with that. I’m very excited about the progress he’s made and his future with this organization.”

Whisenhunt said he didn’t base his decision on one particular reason or another.

“To the credit of both of our quarterbacks, it was close. It really came down to who I felt gave us the best chance to win that first game.

“It was a long decision. I was up most of the night and even this morning going back over it, going through it.

“It’s an important decision. We owed it to our ownership, our fans and especially to our team. That’s the reason I made the decision.”

Warner said the news is “kind of bittersweet.”

“I was obviously excited for me and the opportunity, but I’m also disappointed for Matt.

“I know the position he’s in and how difficult that is.

“But I’m definitely exited to have this opportunity,” especially this late in a career.

“You have a quarterback of the future… and you’re not really sure how it’s going to play out.”

Typically, a team could be expected to go with a young player who’s a first-round draft pick, Warner said.

“It’s probably more rare to see it play out this way . … The young guy, in a lot of situations, gets the benefit of the doubt.

“Guys like myself aren’t going to be playing another 10 years. You’re always looking for that next guy to run the show … those guys get the benefit of the doubt.”

Warner said he appreciated the fact that he was told the spot was open to competition and that’s the way it turned out.

“It’s very comforting. It says a lot about our staff and specifically coach Whisenhunt

I’ve been in situations where I’ve heard a lot of things, but it doesn’t play out like people tell you.

“I thanked him. … He’s a man of his word. … I really appreciate that.”

As for Leinart, his reaction was “what I’d hoped it would be,” Whisenhunt said.

“He’s upset. That’s what you want to see. I saw the competitiveness in Matt come out, much like how he responded in the football game.”

“No matter which way we went, somebody was going to be upset. I expected it.

“He is disappointed because he felt he’d made progress and he has made progress.”

He said he’s seen Leinart upset before: when he went out with a collarbone injury last season and when photos of him partying with young women this spring.

“I’ve seen Matt get upset. Great competitors get upset. They’re emotional.

“Part of being a good player is reining those emotions in and controlling them.

“That’s one of the things we got to see (Friday night). He was able to do that after last week.”

Because of this ability to respond well to adversity, Whisenhunt said he doesn’t expect Leinart to lose confidence.

“It was a tough week for Matt (with) a lot of criticism, a lot of people saying he wasn’t going to be the starter. A lot of things he had to deal with.

“He still focused, had a good week of practice and played well.”

Whisenhunt said he expects Leinart to play this season, based on the frequency of injuries at the position.

“I think there was one quarterback last year who took all of his team’s snaps during the year.

“You look at our season when we ended up playing three. There’s a pretty high percentage Matt will play for us.”