"Derek Anderson will remain the Cardinals' starting quarterback because he gives the team its best chance to win, coach Ken Whisenhunt said Tuesday morning.

The Cardinals' 27-6 loss to the 49ers on Monday night was their sixth consecutive and dropped them to 3-8.

Anderson became angry and left a news conference after being asked about the ESPN broadcast showing him smiling on the bench with guard Deuce Lutui. Whisenhunt said he had talked to both players and was satisfied they were taking the game seriously.

"Those guys have worked hard, they want to win," he said. "I'm not going to read too much into a couple of seconds of what you see on video. I'm going to base it on what I know about those guys and their demeanor and their approach.

"Listen, we've got a lot of issues that we've got to get corrected, and that's a small one compared to some of the other things we have to do."

Whisenhunt said he's sticking with Anderson because Anderson has been working hard and has improved over the past few weeks. "That's really what you look for," Whisenhunt said.

When asked if he had much choice, given that the backups are rookies Max Hall and John Skelton, Whisenhunt said: "Well, that's part of the decision process. That's what you have.""