How dire has the Birmingham Stallions’ injury situation been at quarterback this season?

“We added Jalen Morten this week with Andrew Peasley being out with his knee,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said, “and the league texted me and said we don’t have any more quarterback-eligible numbers, so we got to put him in No. 24, so this is going to be like ‘The Longest Yard’ if Jalen Morton has to go in. It’s going to be the Mean Machine with No. 24 at quarterback.”

Birmingham plays its seventh game of the United Football League season on Sunday against the Houston Roughnecks, and Case Cookus will be the first QB to start three times for the Stallions in 2025.

Cookus opened the season behind Alex McGough and Matt Corral on Birmingham’s depth chart. McGough went out in the second game and Corral went out in fourth game with injuries.

Peasley was brought aboard when McGough got hurt, J’Mar Smith (the original starter for the 2022 and 2023 Stallions) came back when Corral was injured, and Morton (also a 2023 returnee) was added with Peasley ailing.

“Normally going into Week 7, you’d like to think you knew your identity,” Holtz said. “You’d like to think that at this point, you’d had enough reps and enough investment that your players are really comfortable in your system. …

“We’ve had a number of players that have been injured, and we just haven’t had the ability to have the consistency to be able to grow and develop as much as I would have liked to like we have in years past. So that has been my biggest frustration, but the season’s not over. We’ve still got Week 7, Week 8, Week 9 to continue to learn, to grow, to develop, and really the biggest thing for us right now is we’ve got to get to the point where we’re playing really good football, experienced football, solid football for the last half of the season and trying to make a playoff run as we get going down the stretch.

“That’s probably been about the biggest challenge that we have right now is we are still having to dummy down what we’re doing a little bit because we have so many new faces that have been playing for us. We’re going to continue to push, we’re going to continue to get it, we’re going to continue to grow. It’s the old adage: We’re not where we want to be, we’re not where we think we should be, we’re not where we can be, but thank goodness we’re not where we used to be.”

Despite the quarterback carousel and a roll call of injuries at other spots, Birmingham entered Week 7 tied for the top spot in the USFL Conference standings with the Michigan Panthers with four weeks of regular-season play remaining. Each team has a 4-2 mark.

For the Stallions, the defense has been the foundation for the opportunity to win a fourth consecutive league championship. The Birmingham defensive unit has allowed five touchdowns and the fewest rushing yards in the UFL this season.

“I think our defense is playing really well together as unit,” Holtz said. “I think they’re communicating. They’re talking. I think our four linebackers are playing really well together – (Kyahva) Tezino and (Tae) Crowder and Chapelle (Russell) and (DeMarquis) Gates are playing really well. I like the way they’re playing up front. I think (defensive tackles) Carlos Davis, Perrion Winfrey, those guys are playing really solid. I think front seven against the run and stopping the run, we’re forcing people to throw the ball.”

The Stallions and Roughnecks square off at 11 a.m. CDT Sunday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham in the USFL Conference game. ABC will televise the contest.

Houston has a 3-3 record. The Roughnecks’ only loss in their past four games was administered by the Stallions 23-16 on April 19 – although Houston’s three victories came against the Memphis Showboats and the San Antonio Brahmas, who have two wins between them in 2025.

“With the significance of this game, I think the players have been really focused in and dialed in,” Holtz said. “They’ve done a nice job this week because we realize how big this game is. Anytime you’re playing a team for a second time, it’s difficult, especially when you win the first game because that’s an underlying motivation for the other team. …

“It’s a division game, and this game has huge implications from a playoff standpoint because it really has an opportunity to separate the top from the bottom if we can find a way to win this weekend.”

At Sunday’s game, the Stallions will collect items for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society. Drop-off spots will be at the Stadium Club and South Gate entrances. Items of need include food for dogs, cats, puppies and kittens, dog treats, puppy pads, dog toys, newspaper, kitten milk replacer and dog and cat carriers.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.