Leinart says he's ready to take over as starter

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Matt Leinart's first practice since the retirement of Kurt Warner didn't go the way the Arizona Cardinals' quarterback would have liked.

"My accuracy wasn't where I wanted it to be, but it's the first day," Leinart said after the first of two minicamp practices Friday.

Still, the 26-year-old says he's confident he's ready to take over the offense.

"This is an opportunity that I've been waiting for, for a long time," said Leinart, who was named the starter after Warner stepped away from the game in January.

Leinart was the starter going into the 2008 season but was eventually beaten out by Warner, who then led Arizona to consecutive NFC West titles and the Super Bowl.

Leinart's top competition this year is longtime friend Derek Anderson, who Leinart has known since he was 17, but he said his mental approach is the same.

"I'm just kind of going about like I've always been," said Leinart, Arizona's top pick in 2006. "Obviously it's different now that I'm starting. I've just got to have that mindset and be confident and lead this football team and be me."

After an up-and-down showing in his first four years in the league, there are still doubts about Leinart's ability to lead an NFL team.

He threw for an NFL rookie-record 405 yards in a game against Minnesota in 2006, and also that season had three games with a passer rating of at least 100. He finished with a completion percentage of 56.8, but it declined each of the next two years.

Leinart played well in his lone start last year at Tennessee, where he was asked to mostly manage the game - he completed 21 of 31 passes - but ended the year with a poor showing. Against Green Bay in the regular-season finale, Leinart threw two interceptions.

"Last year was last year and this is a new season," Leinart said.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt said likes how Leinart is approaching this year and has indicated he wasn't concerned about how last year ended.

"There's a little bit different feel with Matt," Whisenhunt said. "He knows now he's the guy. He's the one everybody's looking at. It's different when you've got Kurt Warner here with everything he brings. I don't see any difference as far as the time Matt's putting in or how hard he's working on the field."

Leinart made it clear he won't be successful trying to be the next Warner.

"I'm not trying to be anybody else but me," he said. "I've just got to go out there and do what I know I can do and just be a leader on this football team, work hard and get better every day."

In what could be a make-or-break year for him with the Cardinals, Leinart knows the pressure is on to produce.

"As a starting quarterback, obviously all eyes are on you and you are the leader of the football team," he said. "I know that my guys around me - both sides of the ball - are going to be counting on me to step up, and that's what I count on doing."