Mike LaFleur showed almost a sheepish grin. When Michael Wilson was coming out for the 2023 draft and LaFleur was in his first season as offensive coordinator for the Rams, LaFleur wasn't a fan.
"Truth be told — I don't know if I've ever told him this. I'll keep it candid with you guys," LaFleur said. "I know a lot of the guys that I respect in this league from a coaching perspective were really high on him and I don't think I was as high on him as those guys were and boy, I couldn't have been more wrong."
By the time Wilson, the Cardinals WR1, spoke on the subject, LaFleur had filled him in on his long-ago beliefs.
"It's all good now," Wilson said with a smile. "We're all in the same building. I would hope now he thinks highly of me as a player."
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion," Wilson added. "The tape is the tape and if he didn't see me and like me as a player coming out I can't be mad at anyone who doesn't like my game. How we all see and evaluate prospects, once the tape is out there, I can't fault someone's opinion."
Wilson's issues in college, specifically that he was oft-injured and played only 13 games over his final three seasons, was a big part of the evaluation. But here Wilson is, recipient of 28 targets over the past two games and going against a Detroit Lions defense on Sunday that has struggled mightily to stop anyone. Last week, top Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, went off for 14 receptions, 192 yards and two touchdowns.
Wilson's 25 catches this season is second on the Cardinals behind the 33 of tight end Trey McBride, but he has the most yards (258). His 44 targets are the fifth-most in the NFL.
"I think his ceiling is still much higher than where he's at," LaFleur said.
What did LaFleur not see before that he sees now? "That's a good question," LaFleur said. "I don't want to go too far because I don't want to hurt his feelings about what I thought and what I was wrong (about)."
Not that Wilson cares.
"I guess it feels good (to have won over LaFleur)," Wilson said, again with a smile. "We didn't get into specifics, but at this point does it matter?"
-- McBride is due a big game after gaining just 41 yards on his seven catches in New York. That leaky Lions defense has allowed 407 yards to tight ends this season and six touchdowns, the second-most and most in the NFL, respectively, according to NextGen Stats.
Also, I can't get past how McBride and Lions star pass rusher Aiden Hutchinson look like they are related. OK, maybe it's just me, but judge for yourself.
-- Jeremiyah Love is still seeking his first 100-yard game at running back, and yes, there is the "maintenance" of his ankle. But he is the only NFL rookie with at least 45 yards from scrimmage in each of the first four games of the season, and after being limited at practice most of the week, Love was full-go on Friday and carries no injury designation into the game.
He also has no concerns that the ankle is going to hinder him against the Lions.
"This week, I feel really, really good," Love said. "Found the way I want to do things. ... My body is in a good place."
-- Safety Rabbit Taylor-Demerson was back full at practice on Friday and is off the injury report. Will be interesting to see how much he plays Sunday or if rookie Wydett Williams Jr. gets the reps for the missing Dewey Wingard.
-- When Jayden Williams was a senior in high school, the wide receiver/tight end was told by head coach Clint Ashcraft that he wanted to move Williams to offensive line. He also told Williams it would change his life.
Flash forward to Sunday, where as a rookie Williams will be starting at left tackle for the Cardinals.
Williams said he was offered by Missouri a scholarship the first week he was playing offensive line, but after a "roller coaster" of a college career, he never really thought the move had changed his life until the Cardinals made him a seventh-round pick in the draft. He thought about it again when he made the 53-man roster.
"I'm like, 'All right, it really did change my life,'" Williams said.
Has Williams talked to Ashcraft about the life-changing move?
"I mean, he sends me a text every once in a while but this year, it's been the busiest year of my life," Williams said. "I say every week, 'I'm gonna call him…' but I'm going to get on that this week."
-- With Paris Johnson going down, not only did Williams get a chance, but so did 2020 Browns first-round pick Jedrick Wills, who the Cardinals signed off the Bills practice squad for offensive line depth. Wills started in Cleveland into the 2023 season (blocking for Brissett in 2022) until he wrecked his knee against the Cardinals that season.
Wills tried to come back but barely played in 2024 before taking all of 2025 off to rehab. Trying to restart his career, he was with the Bears before latching on with the Bills.
"At the end of the day, for a lot of people, it would be easy to stop," Wills said. "I think it says more about my character if I keep going. Not just for me, but my family, people depending on me. Coming into a new environment, you have teammates depending on you. It goes deeper than just yourself. That's with life too. Being where my feet are and stretching this thing out as long as I can until it's my time."
-- This was the first week three players who can return – RB James Conner (on IR), DL Zach Carter (on IR), and TE Tip Reiman (on PUP) – to practice. Nothing yet. LaFleur often talks about the difference between "return to play" and "return to perform" in these instances. For where the team is right now, Reiman might be the most necessary, after Hunter Long was lost with a knee injury. Long is expected to return at some point.
-- Marvin Harrison Jr., not surprisingly, brushed off the swirling trade rumors around him. "Truthfully, I pay it no mind," he said. "I'm only focused on Detroit, helping the Cardinals win football games at the moment. So whatever rumors you're talking about, I don't pay it no mind."
The only reporting about Harrison is that there might be teams interested in him, not that the Cardinals have interest in trading the 2024 No. 4 overall pick. Harrison has five receptions in four games this season.
"I think this time of year, and really all throughout the year, there's a lot of talk," GM Monti Ossenfort said Friday on Arizona Sports. "There's a lot of stuff that's written out there. I think really in the end, Marv is a big part of what we're doing. He's focused 100 percent on trying to get better, helping our team create explosive plays, putting points on the board.
"With respect to all the stuff that's written out there, we're excited to move forward and really not pay any credence to any of that."
-- The Cardinals are back in black for Sunday's game, the first of two games where they sport the look. They will also wear black in Week 12 at home against Washington.
-- Nose tackle Roy Lopez is going against the team he played for in 2025, the team he left the Cardinals for as a free agent and then left to return to Arizona. Lopez has played well so far in his Cardinals reunion.
"His ability to anchor a double team and then when that double team releases show up and hit the ball has impressed me a lot," defensive coordinator Nick Rallis said.
-- The Lions have only turned the ball over one time in four games, one of the reasons their offense has been so effective. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are tied for fourth in the NFL for best turnover margin at plus-3, even after Brissett threw three interceptions last week. The three teams ahead of the Cardinals have a combined 11-1 record (Vikings, Chiefs, Jaguars).
-- Finishing with LaFleur talking about Brissett, and the increasing chatter around the QB's play/whether the Cardinals might make a change at some point:
"There is a lot of good stuff he has done. Listen, it's the hardest position in all of sports. When you don't win, it's on the quarterback, when you win, the quarterback gets maybe even more flowers than they deserve. The truth is a lot of times somewhere in between. Let's call it what it is, if we are going to be real: if we do finish the job (in New York), we score 31 points and no one is talking. But we didn't.
"That's part of the business we signed up for. That's why it's so awesome and fun about Sundays. That's why it's so fun about playing in the NFL. We signed up for this. Coaches, players, everyone. The quarterbacks understand that. And to be a quarterback in this league, you have to have thick skin. When things are great and people are telling you you did a great job, you have to turn the page and move forward. He's a pro. He probably hears the noise, but he ignores the noise, he's above the noise. It's not what gets him to play better or prepare any harder. I have a lot of respect for him and his approach.
See you Sunday.
