Nick Foles will start for Rams vs. Cardinals, Case Keenum will back up

Nick Foles will start at quarterback for the St. Louis Rams on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, according to head coach Jeff Fisher, via Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Foles was the starter at the beginning of the season, but was eventually benched in favor of Case Keenum. Keenum cleared the league's concussion protocol and will be St. Louis' backup.

Keenum was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. With time running out to prepare, it made sense to name Foles the starter, even though Keenum passed protocol by game day.

Foles has completed 57.9 percent of his passes on the season, with 1,906 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was benched in favor of Keenum after he threw for 200 yards with no touchdowns and an interception against the Chicago Bears in Week 10. Keenum started the following week against the Baltimore Ravens, and threw for just 136 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.

Keenum suffered a concussion late in the game and did not leave the field. Although the NFL declined to discipline the team, the NFLPA has stated that the Rams should be punished for the handling of Keenum's concussion.

Foles played in the team's most recent game, a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in which he threw three interceptions and again had zero touchdowns. Late in that game, Sean Mannion took over and completed 6 of 7 passes for 31 yards. Foles did lead the Rams to a win over the Cardinals, throwing three touchdowns with no interceptions in Week 4.

The Rams are 4-7 on the season and have lost their last four games. They trail the Cardinals by five games in the NFC West and they are two to three games back of the leading wild card teams in the NFC.