For a Cardinals team looking to rebound from four straight losing seasons, including last year’s 3-14 showing, the road back has arguably gotten tougher.
Rookie head coach Mike LaFleur, a former Rams offensive coordinator, plans to continue to worry about his team, though. Presumably at least until the Cardinals play the Rams in Week 6 and Week 10.
“You don’t have to worry about that right now,” LaFleur told reporters Tuesday. “That’s not what kept me up last night. What kept me up was, ‘Hey, we had two really good seasons on the team, we got two minutes, let’s see how those two minutes go and then we’ll go from there.’ Like all great players, whether it’s offense or defense, you have to adapt, you have to have a game plan for those guys, but not my concern.”
Another pressing concern is projected starter quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who has missed all of free agency as he seeks a new contract.
McBride understands the absence, but he’s hopeful he’ll see the QB that helped him be so successful last season.
“I would love to have Jacoby here, you know, he was the guy that got me all those yards and catches, whatever, last year,” McBride said. “So, I’d love to have him here, but you know, he’s dealing with something right now. Gardner (Minshew) has been here as much, so I’ve been working with him, getting reps with him. And for all of us, we’re all learning the offense. We’re trying to figure it out together, and it’s been learning, as much as we can, as much as we can. It’s a lot of fun, but we’d love to get Jacoby back as soon as possible.”
In fact, the Rams are banking on their 2026 Super Bowl hopes, while LaFleur and McBride are setting up a new offense and aiming to build a winner from the ground up.
While the Cardinals continue to wait for their quarterback to return, they are all soaking in the reality that the Rams added one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.