Rex Grossman To Miss Final Pre-Season Game Against Arizona

Donovan McNabb is already a likely scratch from Thursday's final pre-season game against the Cardinals, (UPDATE: McNabb is now officially out for Thursday) and now, it looks like he'll have some company on the bench. Mike Jones reports that back-up quarterback Rex Grossman will also be sitting for the final game of the pre-season:

Grossman said he's not playing vs Arizona. Guess its the Beck and Bartel show.

So far, no official reason has been given for why Grossman will be sitting out, but since Grossman doesn't appear to be injured, the Redskins are presumably trying to avoid losing another quarterback to injury this pre-season. Rick Maese brought up the possibility of such a scenario yesterday on Redskins Insider:

It's not clear how much time Grossman will see next week at Arizona. McNabb is not expected to play, but the Redskins don't want to run the risk of Grossman also suffering an injury. As it is, he says he feels comfortable in his role with the team.

"I feel great right now," Grossman said. "Obviously Donovan's going to be the starter. But if they need me to play, I feel extremely comfortable knowing what [offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan] wants and in my abilities to run this offense."

Grossman's absence means John Beck and Richard Bartel will have the entire game to make their strongest closing statements before the Redskins make their final cuts.