Green says struggling Warner remains starting QB

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said Tuesday.

Green responded to Monday's sports report that said he decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green said in a statement released by the team. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

Warner threw three interceptions, two while Arizona was inside the opponent's 14-yard line, and fumbled a snap at the St. Louis 18 with 1:46 to go in the Cardinals' 16-14 home loss to the Rams last Sunday.

At his regular Monday news conference, Green declined to confirm Warner would keep the No. 1 job, fueling speculation that Leinart would get his first NFL start just four weeks into the season.

Kurt Warner has gone through similar drama with Marc Bulger and Eli Manning. (AP)

Green acknowledged after the Rams game that he was as angry as he's been in his two-plus seasons as Arizona coach. He was hired to build a winner by the time the team moved into its new stadium this year. But the Cardinals are 1-2 going into the Falcons game and 12-23 since Green took over.

Neither Warner nor Leinart was available in the locker room before the regularly scheduled team meetings Tuesday evening.

Green also was unavailable.

Leinart told reporters Monday evening that he knew nothing about being chosen to start and believed the job still belonged to Warner.

Wide receiver Anquan Boldin said Tuesday that he hadn't heard of any aborted decision to change starters.

"We get work with both of them in practice I think a decent amount," Boldin said. "Whoever's in there, I'm going to back them 100 percent. I think any move Coach Green makes is for the betterment of the team."

The admittedly impatient Green has been known to make abrupt quarterback changes. Even though the team had won three of four, he benched Josh McCown in favor of Shaun King for two games in 2004, then replaced King with John Navarre before going back to McCown. The Cardinals lost all three.