Matt LeFleur is making one thing plain before the Packers and Cardinals get together for joint practice: if tempers flare, he wants the fight reserved for the head coaches.
Training camp scraps are hardly rare in the NFL, and LeFleur knows a joint session can turn lively in a hurry. With Green Bay set to work against Arizona, he said he’d rather handle any post-whistle business himself than watch his players get dragged into it.
“You come tag me in, they can tag in my brother, and we’ll throw down on the 50,” the Green Bay coach joked ahead of this week’s joint-practice.
That line carries a little extra bite because the Cardinals’ coach is Mike LeFleur, Matt’s brother. The two will meet in a preseason setting on Aug. 28 in Week 3, giving them a chance to go head-to-head on the sideline as well as on the field.
The LeFleurs have crossed paths in football before, but this one comes with a different kind of spotlight: both brothers are now leading teams in a high-intensity setting, and Matt LeFleur’s warning makes it clear he expects things to stay under control. Recent practices between the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints have already shown how quickly these sessions can get out of hand, and that’s exactly the kind of mess he wants to avoid.
For Mike LeFleur, it’s a first big chance in Arizona. He arrives from the Los Angeles Rams after learning under Sean McVay, one of the league’s top play callers, and now gets his first crack at this kind of stage with his brother waiting on the other sideline.
In Other News...
Cardinals Collapse Put Their Quarterback Gamble In A Tougher Spot
The Cardinals preseason loss to Dallas did more than just fill a line in the standings. Even with most of their starters resting, Arizona gave up 34 points and 413 total yards to a Cowboys group built around backup players, a rough showing that put a spotlight on the kind of depth issues teams hope to avoid this time of year. It also served as a reminder that the offseason quarterback picture is already under a brighter-than-usual lens, with Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck all part of the conversation.
Mike LaFleur pointed to a poor week of practice as part of the problem, and the game did little to ease the pressure around a roster trying to find some stability. The defensive concerns are obvious enough, but the bigger question may be how much support the quarterbacks will actually have if the rest of the team cannot hold up its end. For a club already weighing its options under center, a lopsided preseason setback does not make that decision any easier. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Defense Is Giving Fans A Familiar Reason To Worry
The Cardinals defense entered the 2025 preseason with some expectation that the new-look coaching staff would help clean up last years problems, but the early returns have looked awfully familiar. Under defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, Arizona has already given up more than 30 points in two preseason games, and the issues have shown up in the same places they did before: stopping the run and getting off the field on third down.
Arizona allowed 25.6 points per game in the preseason, along with 139.7 rushing yards and a 61.1% opponent third-down conversion rate, numbers that point to more than just August rust. With coaching changes at most positions but continuity at defensive coordinator, the Cardinals are still searching for signs that the problems from a year ago are being addressed rather than repeated. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Still Have Key Week 1 Jobs Up For Grabs
With one preseason game left before the roster gets trimmed to 53, the Cardinals are still sorting out a few of the most important Week 1 decisions. Mike LaFleur is expected to settle on Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, while Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier appear set to share the workload at running back, giving Arizona a clearer picture of the top of the depth chart even as the final shape of the lineup remains in flux.
Plenty of other jobs are still being sorted out on both sides of the ball, and the last exhibition outing figures to matter for more than just fringe roster hopefuls. Several projected starters and rotation spots are still tied to game-plan needs and how players perform in live action, which means the Cardinals are entering the finish line with a few questions still open and a lot of the meaningful decisions still ahead. [Read more 🡒]