The Arizona Cardinals are 1-3, the questions around Jacoby Brissett are getting louder, and yet the support inside the building hasn’t gone anywhere.
That’s the strange split in Arizona right now: outside the facility, the chatter keeps circling back to the quarterback. Inside it, the message is still steady. Brissett is getting backed by teammates and coaches even as the losses pile up and the Cardinals head into Week 5 against the Detroit Lions as another team expected to come up short.
Brissett has already lived through a noisy stretch with the Cardinals after winning a contract standoff over the summer that landed him more guaranteed money and put him in position to steady the offense. Instead, the results have been familiar. Arizona hasn’t found wins, and fans have quickly grown restless with the same cycle under center.
Brissett, for his part, says he’s not paying attention.
“None. I won’t say my real answer, but no, none," Brissett said when asked if he pays attention to what's been said about him.
"I could care less to be honest with you. Not in the slightest.
It’s part of the gig, right? I’m not shying away from any of that.”
The numbers help explain why the conversation keeps coming back to him. Brissett’s time to throw is 2.6 seconds, which ranks fifth-fastest in the NFL.
Arizona is dead last in explosive play rate to begin 2026, and Brissett’s average completed air yards is bottom ten in the league. In other words, the Cardinals aren’t generating chunk plays, and Brissett is getting the ball out quickly and close to the line of scrimmage.
That hasn’t stopped the outside pressure from building toward the idea of a change. But the Cardinals keep pointing in the other direction.
“I feel so confident with him back there every week," star tight end Trey McBride said at the beginning of the regular season.
It’s also worth remembering that this is the same locker room that voted Brissett a team captain before the season began. So while the fan base is searching for answers, the internal view hasn’t shifted with the 1-3 start.
Michael Wilson said that trust has been there from the beginning.
"Since he stepped in, since Day 1, we have a great relationship off the field. He's one of my better friends on the team. We can talk about anything and I think we both see things the same way and I think Jacoby knows that I'm in his corner and I'm going to do everything I can to make him look good," Wilson told reporters this week.
Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur also laid out why Brissett continues to have the staff’s confidence, saying the quarterback has already shown enough to keep the job.
"Because he's done really good things. There's a lot of good stuff that he's done.
Listen, it's the hardest position in all sports. So when you don't win, it's on the quarterback.
When you win, the quarterback gets maybe even more flowers than they deserve. And the truth is, a lot of times, somewhere in between," LaFleur said Friday.
"Let's call it what it is if we're going to be real: if we do finish the job right there [last week] and we score 31 points, no one's talking. But we didn't, and that's part of the business that we signed up [for].
That's why it's so awesome. That's what's so fun about Sundays.
That's what's so fun about playing in the NFL is we signed up for this. Coaches, players, everyone, and the quarterbacks understand that.
"And to be a quarterback in this league, you got to have thick skin. And then when things are great and people are telling you [that] you did a great job, hey, you got to turn the page and continue to move forward.
So he's a pro. He handles it.
He probably hears the noise, but he ignores the noise. He's above the noise.
It's not what gets him to play better or anything like that, or prepare any harder. He's just going about it for his teammates, for himself, for his family."
In Other News...
Marvin Harrison Jr. Just Became A Real Cardinals Deadline Story
Marvin Harrison Jr. has only just started to settle into his place in Arizona, but his name is already surfacing in deadline chatter as the NFL moves closer to the next round of roster maneuvering. ESPNs Josh Weinfuss and Stephen Holder reported that the Indianapolis Colts are among the teams doing due diligence on the Cardinals wideout, a reminder that even a former No. 4 overall pick can become part of the leagues wider trade conversation before his rookie chapter has fully unfolded.
For Arizona, the important part is what is not happening right now. The Cardinals are not shopping Harrison, and he has said he is focused on helping the team win rather than tracking rumors around him. Still, the fact that another team would be willing to explore the idea if he somehow became available is enough to make this worth watching as the deadline picture sharpens around a player who has already appeared in four games this season. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Already Lost One Starter As Lions Injury Picture Shifts
The Cardinals have already had to adjust for their Week 5 matchup with the Lions, ruling out starting safety Andrew Wingard for Sundays game. Its a significant early-week hit for Arizona, especially with Detroit bringing plenty of physicality and motion stress into the matchup, but the rest of the injury report offered a few reasons for optimism as the week moved along.
Head coach Mike LaFleur said running back Jeremiyah Love and defensive lineman Walter Nolen III are trending in the right direction, while also noting that tight end Hunter Longs injury is not season-ending. Outside linebacker Jordan Burch is expected to be available, so Arizonas picture is a lot clearer than it could have been, even if the biggest uncertainty from the week still hangs over how much depth the Cardinals will have where they need it most. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Face One Clear Challenge In A Winnable Lions Test
The Cardinals enter this matchup with a real opening against Detroit, but the path to taking advantage of it starts up front. Arizona has been leaning on the passing game, with Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. giving the offense reliable ways to stress a defense, and this is the kind of opponent that can be attacked if the protection holds together. The Lions have not looked sturdy on that side of the ball, which is why this game has the feel of one Arizona should be able to keep within reach.
The issue for Arizona is whether the offensive line can survive long enough to let the rest of the plan work. Injuries have thinned the group to the point where the Cardinals are asking for new answers in a spot where continuity usually matters most, and that makes the matchup feel a little less comfortable than the records suggest. If the line can hold, the Cardinals have a chance to turn a winnable test into a useful early-season statement. [Read more 🡒]