TEMPE — It’s still very early in the installation of the Arizona Cardinals offense under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been glimpses of what LaFleur and Hackett envision, leaving Paris Johnson Jr., tight end Trey McBride and others excited for the possibilities.
“I love the philosophy that they have for the offense,” Johnson told Arizona Sports’ Cardinals Corner. “I believe that not only myself, but the guys across all units on the offense love what they’re bringing and the style of offense that comes with them. Not just the terminology and the reasons behind the identity that we’re going to now for our offense. I think just the energy in which they teach it and how fast we’re able to pick up the system.
“We picked it up fast. … We’re still at the surface, still at the beginning, but coach LaFleur, coach Hackett, great energy, especially coach Hackett. … Having those guys being able to teach the offense, I think this is the perfect system for me and a perfect system for a lot of the guys in this locker room. I know a lot of guys are excited to get flying around in this system.”
While rookie minicamp just wrapped up this weekend, Arizona’s veterans have gotten work in on a voluntary basis through the offseason program, which began about five weeks ago.
That first week together, however, was spent without truly introducing a play offensively. It was instead spent working on pre-snap execution, something LaFleur wants to hang his hat on as a head coach and offensive play caller.
“I say this … ‘We’re going to operate better than anyone in the NFL.’ And I really believe that because that takes no talent,” LaFleur told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta fresh off getting the job on Feb. 20. “That’s just setting foundations with our cadence, with our formations, with how we break the huddle.”
Running a clean operation has and will continue to be at the forefront of LaFleur’s mind. A successful offense to him is one that doesn’t shoot itself in the foot with pre-snap penalties or sloppy execution. Those two issues have hindered Arizona’s offenses over the years.
While the Cardinals offense was one of the cleanest units in 2024 (second-fewest penalties), it was the dirtiest in the league twice under former head coach Kliff Kingsbury in 2020 and 2022. And outside of that 2024 mark, ex-head coach Jonathan Gannon and former offensive coordinator Drew Petzing posted the 11th- and 12th-most flagged units (2023, 2025) before their departures.
It’s about all the pieces coming together as one from start to finish.
One of those pieces may not have an NFL snap to his name just yet but can already see how LaFleur’s vision translates to his game.
“I’m fitting right in, run game-wise, pass game-wise, like everything,” rookie running back Jeremiyah Love said Friday. “Football is universal. Like everything pretty much is the same, but it just looks differently.”
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Then there’s the biggest piece of the puzzle, the quarterback.
Arizona’s QB situation is far from clear, with veteran and projected Week 1 starter Jacoby Brissett staying away from voluntary teamwork amid a request for a raise. Gardner Minshew, who was brought in to back up Brissett, has taken the lead in his absence.
Then there’s third-round pick Carson Beck. The rookie was thrown into the equation last month and got his first taste of practice reps in Tempe last week.
Much like Love, Beck has found out rather quickly how his strengths fit into LaFleur’s offense.
“There’s a lot of pure progressions and you’re reading across the field. It’s not just pick a side, pick a side,” Beck said Thursday before any on-the-field work. “You have every single different, play action and pure progression and full field read across the board, all these different reads and progressions that you can make.
“I think that’s something that I’ve been really comfortable with throughout my college career and is something that obviously gets translated at this level as well.”
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