There’s plenty of doubt swirling around the Arizona Cardinals, but inside the building in Tempe, nobody seems interested in entertaining it.
The chatter outside is loud: a rookie head coach, a bridge quarterback, a defense that didn’t make much of a leap this offseason, and a schedule that doesn’t exactly hand out favors. Add in life inside the NFC West, and plenty of NFL observers are already looking past 2026 and talking about what Arizona might do at the trade deadline for 2027.
That’s the backdrop. The Cardinals, at least publicly, aren’t buying into any of it.
“No, we're not concerned about the noise,” head coach Mike LaFleur said at his Wednesday press conference.
LaFleur is a big part of why there’s at least some intrigue here. Arizona made a bold move by putting another first-time head coach in charge, and the idea is that his offensive background can translate into real play-calling value. The Cardinals are clearly betting that his upside can outweigh the skepticism.
Jacoby Brissett, who is set to run the offense, sounded just as unmoved by the outside opinion.
“Nope. Zero,” he said when asked if being counted out matters.
Then he laid out the only thing that seems to matter to him.
“It’s literally not about me. I want to go out there and win. The guys in the locker room want to go out there and win, and I think that's our main focus.”
Brissett’s job is straightforward: handle LaFleur’s offense, read defenses quickly, distribute the ball to the playmakers around him, and avoid mistakes. That’s the kind of role he’s built for, and it’s what Arizona is asking him to do.
The bigger concern, as the source of all the skepticism suggests, sits on the other side of the ball. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis is back for a fourth season, and the pressure on that unit is obvious if the Cardinals are going to stay in games. There’s no hiding from that reality.
“Ignore the noise. We’re focused on what do we have to do right now to get ourselves prepared for Sunday," Rallis told reporters.
He went further, acknowledging that outside opinions are real enough, even if they don’t change the task at hand.
“There a lot of things externally that do matter to people, and everyone's got different stuff. Career aspirations or money or just outside perspective and reputation. So it is a real thing, but at the end of the day the result we want is to win games, and in order to win games you got to play good defense," said Rallis.
Rallis said the only way to get there is to stay locked in on the immediate challenge.
“So the best way to go about that is, where do we hold our attention in the moment? If we're putting our attention on anything but preparing for the Chargers, it's going to take us away from maximizing that opportunity on Sunday. Easier said than done, but that is 100% of what this building is about - being where your feet are and attacking whatever we're in - meetings, walk-through, practice, recovery, all of that.”
And that’s where the Cardinals stand: a team with plenty of questions outside, and plenty of confidence inside. The outside world can keep drawing its conclusions. Arizona is leaving the judgment to the games.
In Other News...
Cardinals Enter Mike LaFleur Era With Pressure Building At Quarterback
The Cardinals are heading into 2026 with a new voice on the sideline in Mike LaFleur, and the early feel around the roster is equal parts hope and uncertainty. There is enough offensive talent to make the season interesting, with Jacoby Brissett and Trey McBride giving the group a workable foundation, while the defense enters the year with expectations of its own under the coordinator in place.
The bigger question is still the quarterback room, where Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck give Arizona very different paths to consider. How the Cardinals handle that position will shape everything from the weekly game plan to any roster moves they might explore once the season starts, and it is the kind of situation that could define LaFleurs first year before the schedule even settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Head Into Chargers Opener With A Worrying Week 1 Problem
The Cardinals are carrying some early-season uncertainty into their opener against the Chargers after releasing their final injury report for Week 1. Arizona will be without starting right guard Isaiah Adams, slot cornerback Garrett Williams and safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, three absences that trim some depth on both sides of the ball before the first snap of the regular season.
Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love is listed as questionable, though the expectation is that he will be available. The Chargers have injury questions of their own, with cornerback Deane Leonard already ruled out and outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu still in the questionable column, but for Arizona the bigger concern is how quickly the offense and secondary can settle in while starting the year shorthanded. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Open With One Big Problem Against The Chargers
Week 1 brings a fresh start for Arizona under new head coach Mike LaFleur, but the opener against the Chargers also offers an immediate test of how much has really changed. Los Angeles comes in with a revamped offense under new coordinator Mike McDaniel and a clear priority on keeping Justin Herbert upright, while the Cardinals are trying to settle into a new direction after offseason coaching and roster moves that reshaped the feel of the team.
The bigger question for Arizona is whether the quarterback plan is stable enough to keep the offense from lagging behind early. Jacoby Brissett is at the center of that conversation, and the Cardinals cant afford a slow start if they want LaFleurs debut to feel like more than a transition game. The matchup still tilts toward the Chargers on paper, but for Arizona, the first real problem is simply proving it can handle a team with more clarity on both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]