The Cardinals aren’t making a quarterback change yet, and Mike LaFleur made that much clear after Arizona’s 30-16 home loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Even with some fans calling for first-year head coach Mike LaFleur to turn away from Jacoby Brissett and give 2026 third-round pick Carson Beck a shot, LaFleur said Brissett will remain the starter when Arizona visits the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 1. On Monday, he laid out why he’s staying the course.
“He’s still the starter. …It’s collective,” LaFleur said about Brissett, per Tyler Drake of Arizona Sports.
“If the ball was just stagnant for 60 minutes and you couldn’t even cross the 50-yard line, it’d be one thing. But we’ve been down inside the 10-yard line 10 times over the last two games.
The ball is moving, but we got to finish jobs. And again, that starts with me, but that’s a collective effort.”
That’s the heart of LaFleur’s argument: the Cardinals are moving the ball, but they aren’t cashing in enough once they get close. As Alex D’Agostino of PHNX Sports noted, Arizona has scored just one touchdown in its last 10 red-zone trips over the past two games.
In the Cardinals’ upset 18-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 18, Chad Ryland was still called on for six field-goal tries.
Brissett’s numbers reflect a mixed stretch. ESPN stats list him 22nd among qualified quarterbacks with a 53.6 adjusted QBR.
Pro-Football-Reference has him 25th with an 82.8 passer rating and 20th at 228.6 passing yards per game. Through seven games, he has thrown 10 touchdown passes and six interceptions.
Still, LaFleur said the Cardinals aren’t ready to start debating a switch to Beck.
“The players got to go execute, and I got to put them in better positions and give them the clarity to go do so,” LaFleur added. “And then when they do have that clarity, they got to make the plays.
We know that. We’re not going to shy away from that.
We got to finish the job when we’re [in the red zone], and I don’t even think we’re having these conversations right now.”
The Cardinals are 2-5, and DraftKings Sportsbook had them as 6.5-point road underdogs against the 3-4 Cowboys as of Tuesday morning. Arizona’s bye doesn’t come until Week 14, so Brissett could end up holding onto the job through that stretch as well.
In Other News...
Carson Beck Timeline Just Became A Real Cardinals Debate
The rookie quarterback class has been slow to arrive in the NFL, but Carson Becks path is starting to look a lot more relevant for Arizona as the season moves deeper into the second half. Through Week 7, most of the quarterbacks taken in the draft still have not started a game, and that kind of delay tends to sharpen the focus on teams like the Cardinals, where every week without a clear answer under center makes the next move feel more important.
Arizona sits 2-5, and the longer the offense stays in limbo, the more Beck becomes part of the conversation around the franchises future. Jacoby Brissett has helped stabilize the position enough to keep the Cardinals afloat, but there is still no long-term answer in place, which is why the timeline on Beck is now being watched so closely around the building. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Keep Facing The Same Offensive Question As Pressure Builds
The Cardinals are still sorting through the same offensive questions that have followed them through the last stretch, and the pressure is only getting louder as the season moves on. Mike LaFleur made it clear Jacoby Brissett remains the starter, a decision that keeps the focus on a group trying to find cleaner execution and better finishing when it matters most.
Arizonas recent struggles have not been pinned on one player alone, and that is part of what makes the situation so tricky. The offense has had chances to turn drives into something more meaningful, but the conversation around the unit keeps circling back to the same issue: enough movement to threaten, not enough payoff to relieve the strain that comes with each passing week. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Sweat Trade Buzz Puts Cardinals In A Familiar Deadline Spot
With the Nov. 10 trade deadline approaching, Arizona looks like one of the more plausible sellers if it decides to move on from a few veteran pieces, and Josh Sweat has quickly become the name drawing the most attention. The edge rusher is only in the second year of a four-year contract, but his status has been in flux since he asked for a trade after Jonathan Gannon was fired, and the Cardinals held onto him at the time while managing his injury situation.
Now the buzz around Sweat has only grown, with teams around the league monitoring whether Arizona will finally make a move. A deal would fit a familiar deadline pattern for a team still sorting out its direction, but the real question is whether the Cardinals believe the return matches the value of keeping a proven pass rusher in-house during a season that has not gone the way they wanted. [Read more 🡒]