With the Arizona Cardinals having numerous injuries in their secondary, former Wildcat Jace Whittaker got lot of playing team this weekend.
It was a big weekend in the NFL for Former Wildcat Jace Whittaker. After being pulled up from the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad again earlier last week, the undrafted rookie appeared in the teams’ Sunday game against the Miami Dolphins in State Farm Stadium.
Never wanting to be just thrown into the action as a last minute replacement as a rookie, that is essentially what happened to Jace this past weekend, especially as Arizona’s secondary continues to be absolutely decimated by injury this season.
Arizona Wildcats
When cornerback Kevin Peterson went down with a concussion injury in the game, it was Jace’s time to shine. Unfortunately for him, it was probably an appearance that he could learn a lot from.
Despite being a guy who has been steadily making a name for himself on the practice squad, Jace has seen his fair share of opportunities early on, but because of his limited action, the Dolphins took advantage.
In a game that became a bit of a barn burner, the Dolphins threw to and targeted Jace as many times as possible, taking advantage of that limited experience, testing the untested rookie. Meanwhile, veteran Patrick Peterson was opposite of him.
For the Dolphins, it worked, especially as they were able to capitalize on a Pass Interference penalty on Jace, and even scored a touchdown from a Tua Tagovailoa pass to Mack Hollins to tie the game at 31-31 with 11:19 to go in the game.
Hard to fault an undrafted rookie for his struggles in the game, considering not many expected to see Jace put in that position. Nonetheless, it is great seeing our former Wildcat get valuable playing time and get experience in order to get better.
At Zona Zealots, we’re hoping that Jace can continue to get more opportunities, but also use this game as a learning experience. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!