Drew Stanton and Brock Osweiler have sent messages to ASU’s Mike Bercovici
Mike Bercovici is set to make his first career start for Arizona State on Thursday night and he’s getting some support from a couple NFL QBs.
Bercovici, a redshirt junior, said he’s received messages from the Arizona Cardinals’ Drew Stanton and the Denver Broncos’ Brock Osweiler. Stanton has started in place of the injured Carson Palmer the last two weeks.
“Yesterday I received a text from him. It was awesome,” Bercovici said. “He said ‘Hey it’s Drew, just wanted to let you know I’ve been in your shoes before, good luck this weekend, I’ve got all the confidence in you.’ I just was so ecstatic that he would take the time to do that because obviously there’s kind of a unity you have with backup quarterbacks stepping in for a role. But shoutout to him, just kind of making my day and giving me that extra confidence.”
Osweiler, Peyton Manning’s backup, played at Arizona State. He and Bercovici were at Arizona State together in 2011. Bercovici was a three-star recruit according to Rivals out of Los Angeles in 2011.
“Brock Osweiler texted me some of the greatest words of encouragement that I’ve ever really gotten,” Bercovici said via the Arizona Republic. “Obviously, I had a great relationship with him my freshman year. He was in a lot of huge games. Basically, he just told me, ‘Be the person that I am and (just focus) on completions. That’s the way to get going. Just completions, completions, completions.’ That really stuck with me.”
ASU starting QB Taylor Kelly injured his foot against Colorado and after Kelly left the game, Bercovici got some playing time in the fourth quarter. With the Sun Devils holding on to a second half lead, Bercovici only attempted four passes, completing two for eight yards. Arizona State coach Todd Graham said Sunday that Bercovici should simply trust the offensive players around him.
“I think what gives me the most confidence in having a back up quarterback out there is who it is,” Graham said via ASUDevils.com. “Mike’s skill set is very unique and we’re very confident in him. And then the line and the people he has around him. I think Mike just needs to use the people he has around him and run the offense. He’s looked good against our defense.”
For more Arizona State news, visit ASUDevils.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
