With Week 4 on deck, the quarterback chatter is loud in both Arizona and New York - but for now, neither the Cardinals nor the Giants is making a move.
The Cardinals are coming off a 1-2 start after Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and the pressure around Jacoby Brissett is only getting heavier. Fans are already pushing for rookie Carson Beck to get a shot, and that noise figures to keep building if the losses keep coming.
Brissett, though, is still the guy. He got a $15 million raise over the summer and remains projected to hold the starting job until further notice. After the defeat in San Francisco, he pointed back to the film room and the need for cleaner football.
"You go back to work, you go watch the film, and you say, man, if we can find ways to not do this to us, and focus solely on just doing the right things, and you see what is to come of it," Brissett said following the loss in San Francisco.
"Obviously, a long season and you don't want to dwell on the mistakes each and every week and stuff like that, but you’ve just got to continue to find ways to get better.”
The Giants have their own quarterback storyline, but it’s a different kind of mess. They improved to 2-1 after edging the Tennessee Titans with Jameis Winston at the controls, and Jaxson Dart is out for the season after suffering a knee injury.
There had been some buzz around Cardinals quarterback Gardner Minshew being linked to New York in trade talk, but that chatter ended quickly when the Giants acquired J.J. McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings this morning for a fifth-round pick.
Even with McCarthy added, Giants head coach John Harbaugh said Winston will start against Arizona.
That sets up a Week 4 meeting at MetLife Stadium with both teams carrying quarterback questions, even if the answers are different. Arizona has a chance to avoid sliding to 1-3, while New York will try to keep things steady behind Winston after a shaky showing against Tennessee. The Cardinals now have another week of film on him, which gives them something to work with.
For all the uncertainty swirling around both rooms, the immediate plan is clear: Brissett and Winston are staying put for Sunday.
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The image quickly spread across social media, where the moment drew far more conversation than the play itself. The player involved was never identified, leaving the scene as an unresolved and uncomfortable footnote to a tight divisional game, one Cardinals fans are likely to remember for reasons that have nothing to do with the final score. [Read more 🡒]
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LaFleur pointed to the effort he saw Sunday while also stressing the need for patience and improvement, which is where this team now lives: somewhere between encouraging signs and the hard reality of a long climb back. The record is still the record, and the losses in the division keep piling up, but Arizona at least showed enough against San Francisco to suggest the conversation about this coaching staff is not as simple as the standings say. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Let Upset Bid Slip Away For One Frustrating Reason
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Jacoby Brissett gave Arizona enough to stay in the fight, finishing 38 of 52 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, even if the offense took too long to get rolling. There were positive signs, too, including Simi Fehokos recovery of a muffed punt, but those flashes were drowned out by 10 penalties for 86 yards and the kind of tackling breakdowns that can erase a strong stretch in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]