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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Week 9 of the 2026 NFL season is the week of the backup quarterback.
Shedeur Sanders will start for the Browns against the Saints, even though Deshaun Watson cleared the concussion protocol Saturday, while Joe Milton replaced Tanner McKee for the 2-6 Eagles against the Giants. In Arizona, Gardner Minshew takes over for Jacoby Brissett after leading a dramatic comeback win over the Cowboys last week. Joe Fagnano also started Thursday night for Baltimore, while Seattle's Drew Lock is set to start for the injured Sam Darnold, and Carson Wentz will take over for Kyler Murray on Monday night in Minnesota.
With Sanders, Milton, and Minshew expected to start, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the NFL will have 47 different starting quarterbacks this season. That's the second most through Week 9 in the past 15 years and trails only the 48 that started through the first nine weeks of 2019.
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Injuries are driving much of this. Lamar Jackson hurt his right thumb on the first snap of last Sunday's game and is headed to injured reserve, and backup Tyler Huntley is also out for the year with turf toe, which left Fagnano the only remaining option. In Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts is on IR with blood clots in his lungs. Watson was hit high by Jaquan Brisker, went into concussion protocol, and now sits for Sanders, and Darnold's quad injury put Lock in Seattle.
Other changes have been performance-based, like Brissett's benching and McKee's, but there's no getting around that injuries have been a big storyline this football season.
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Quarterback depth is thinner than it looks, and it's starting to show. When starters go down, many teams don't have a reliable backup. Things can change quickly, as we've seen with Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Cleveland, and that means more unpredictable games and chances for backups like Minshew and Sanders to prove themselves.
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