A dangerous time to post a mailbag, before we quite reach the trade deadline, but if the Cardinals make a deal, we'll have time to QnA that next week. After the Michael Wilson and Gardner Minshew injury news, there are still topics a plenty. Don't forget to send a question for a future mailbag with at least a first name and last initial.

From James R:

"Michael Wilson?!?!? Noooooooo!"

Alas, yes. For everything the Cardinals have been through this season with health, the loss of Wilson was a hard slap to the face. The way he had been playing through his broken ribs, the way the rest of the wide receiving corps had already been decimated. Wilson is confident he'll come out the other side fine, but for the balance of this season, it's a blow to an offense that is still trying to find itself. And it allows defenses to focus even more on covering Trey McBride.

From Drew Bird:

"Hey Darren. I'll be excited as anyone else when Carson Beck gets the start, but I am actually really worried that he's getting thrown into a can't-win situation, similar to Josh Rosen back in the day. No matter when Beck starts this season, the fact is he will have the thinnest of WRs corps, patchwork OL, depth RBs, and possibly a defense missing key players depending on the trade deadline. It just feels incredibly unfair to judge Beck based on his performance this year. What can be done to give him the best chance to show us what he can do?"

You game plan the best you can for what he does well, but that's about it. I mean, you aren't going to be able to bring in Michael Wilson or Paris Johnson or Will Johnson or -- for now -- Jeremiyah Love. Facts are facts. It is not ideal to measure his play, but that's all you have. I'm not sure what the alternative would be. Forget the fact he's a rookie. He was the third QB and the first guy was traded and the second one was hurt. Time to play. The other stuff is just the details.

From Ryan Y:

"Trey McBride is a great player. But I am wondering about a couple of things. One, it feels like way too many of his targets/catches come at 4 or 5 yards. I also don't want him to be like Fitz and have too many of his best years not matter. Aren't you concerned?"

This came in before the Wilson done news, so it's going to be even more difficult to find ways to get McBride loose just because defenses have the ability to focus on just him. I don't know exactly what/how the routes he is running are supposed to function, but McBride has had his moments like his toe-tap 15-yarder on Sunday.

As for his long-term spot, McBride has made clear he wants to be a Cardinal and be one of the ones that helps turn the club into a winner. That's a tough road to travel here on Nov. 10, 2026, but I don't see Trey changing that mindset anytime soon.

From David B:

"I believe you'll agree that Minshew wasn't the problem in Seattle (70 percent completions). All season I've been harping about the basics. Blocking and tackling. Would you agree that these are areas of great improvement needed, and if so, how does a professional team go about that?"

Blocking and tackling are the cornerstones of football, so there is something to that. But, for instance, if you have trouble blocking that Seahawks pass rush, is it fundamentals or just talent? I thought the tackling was good on Sunday. The defense played well. JSN didn't do much. The blocking needs to be sharper, especially to get the running game loose.

As for how to get better? That's a lot harder. There are drills, but the only time tackling happens is in a game. That's it. You can work on it for real 17 times a year. Blocking again has drills, but there is a reason people say there is no substitute for game reps.

From Hank Schleedoorn:

Hello Darren. With the injuries in the running back room. Is Trey Benson an option? Unsure of his heath status. Could he be signed to the practice squad? Does NFL rules allow a team sign a player they waived earlier in the season?

!Benson is not available. The Cardinals did waive him injured back during the preseason. He cleared waivers -- meaning no team took him and his contract -- so he reverted to the Cardinals' IR list, where he remains. But since he went on IR before the regular season, he cannot return this year. (And yes, if a team waived a player, he could be brought back under normal circumstances.)

From Bob Kitsos:

"Thanks for your continued work with the mailbag. It's a fun/informative read.

What's the explanation as to why Minshew failed to score on his third-down run with about 4:30 left in the game? He had an open hole, which would have closed the game to within a touchdown."

Here is what LaFleur said of the play: "If he could he would. I mean, Gardner's a stud."

Here is what Minshew said: "They kind of fooled us on the coverage so I had the run block going the wrong way, so I knew initially it wasn't going to be good. Was able to make the first guy miss. Didn't feel like I had my feet make a move and get in. It's one I wish we could have found a way."

Now that we know Minshew's arm/elbow was an issue, I also wonder if that played a factor in potentially taking a big hit. Would certainly seem that way to me.

From Pascal Pierre:

"Hi Darren. Thank you as always for the great content. I am happy to see that Jacoby Brissett is now gone and we have a chance to put a more entertaining product on the field.
Carson Beck will start at some point. My question is, will it be when the Cardinals are eventually out of playoff contention or will it be when the Cardinals will face less effective defenses down the stretch?"

It sure looks as I write this, Pascal, that it'll be this weekend against the Rams, not as part of any rollout plan but because of necessity.

From Devon East:

"I need to apologize to everybody. Last week I made a bargain with the ghost of Christmas Future that if we could complete the comeback vs the Cowboys and win, then we could lose the rest of the season, I just wanted that one victory. Well, it's time to pay the piper (was still worth it). Although I do expect we win a few more, especially with the Jets, Eagles, and Commanders coming up. I'm happy Minshew wasn't hurt at the end of the second quarter. This was not the game in which I wanted Beck to make his debut. Let's see what Minshew can do against a normal defense before we jump to judgement."

Now you gotta apologize again, Devon, for jinxing Minshew by writing "I'm happy Minshew wasn't hurt."

Smh.

From Ricky Martorella:

"With all the injuries at the receiver position who will be the other wide receivers to catch passes? Any upside with Reggie Virgil?"

The hilarious part of this query is that Ricky sent it last week after the Bourne and Brooks injuries, but assuming Michael Wilson was still there as WR1.

Virgil is a raw rookie, and he made an amazing catch Sunday and he was open deep at least one other time even though Minshew couldn't get him the ball. Your other current options are Devin Duvernay, Simi Fehoko, Zay Jones and Harrison Wallace III.

They are all paid to be NFL receivers. You gotta hope they step up.

From Rob S:

"Hi Darren. I just saw a clip from Mike Wilson's presser and I really appreciate his comments about Brissett, because he addressed something I think a lot of fans don't recognize. Fans are fickle and love to complain, and Brissett has been subject to much of that criticism, fair or not. However, Mike wouldn't be WR1 without Jacoby Brissett. Trey and Mike were both good players before JB. But through JB (Mike said 'catalyst' -- great word), Trey and Mike were unlocked and became franchise cornerstones and for that I'm forever grateful to Brissett."

I believe the same, Rob. McBride was going to be a star anyway but I think Brissett brought it to the spotlight. And Wilson definitely got to where he was in large part because of Brissett (and because Marvin Harrison didn't pan out.

We move on. The Brissett story ultimately turned out pretty much how everyone expected, and now he has a chance to do something else in Baltimore.

From Jason Cabrera:

"Hi Darren! Please congratulate Craig on his Wise Guy win, was impressive. Also, thank you to Cardinals Underground. I enjoy the podcast very much, and I appreciate the work.

I want to just say that I am bummed about Brissett. I know that's not a popular sentiment among the fanbase, but I really like him a lot. He is a warrior, and, I still believe, highly underrated. My question is with the running backs room decimated with injury, could we see the Cardinals target a free agent RB? Given issues in the red zone, maybe a bruiser like Najee Harris or Antonio Gibson?"

Craig doesn't need any more flowers. We do not need this stuff going to his head.

I don't see them at this point going after another running back. That's why you paid Tyler Allgeier, and I do expect to see Bam Knight sooner than later. And at some point, you'll probably get one more chance to play Jeremiyah Love.

From Richard Wakefield:

"Is there a good old boy network or something? The Ravens absolutely had to have Brissett and we only get a bump from the fifth round to the fourth round? Come on."

Wait wait wait. The Cardinals benched Brissett -- which everyone kept telling me they wanted to see happen -- and announced he was going to be the emergency QB going forward, and you think the Cardinals should've gotten more? Yes, the Ravens needed him. But that the Cardinals could get anything for a player the league knew was unneeded in Arizona is impressive. I was expecting a sixth, so I think they did better. My opinion.

From Cris Peralta:

"Darren, we need to talk about the refs. I get that officials are going to make calls or not make calls that one team doesn't agree with. I also understand refs will help players make sure they're lined up onsides, but in all my years watching football, I've never seen a sideline judge run 10 feet onto the field to tell a player he was lined up offsides.

This happened in the second quarter Sunday when Seattle was punting. The gunner was a yard or two offsides, and the ref actually ran onto the field to point it out. The ball was snapped while the player was trying to move back and the ref was still trying to get back into position on the sideline! I don't know if you caught it, but I'd like to hear your take. Have you ever seen anything like that?"

Need? I'm not sure about need. I try to avoid too much talk about officials because a) every fan base wants to believe they get the raw end of the deal and b) it is ultimately pointless.

I did go back to look, and you're right, an official takes a few steps out to let him know and then is backpedaling on the punt. It's possible the gunner asked if he was OK at first and the official said yes and then realized he was off. I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen it, but I also don't think it's a big deal.

From Joe R:

"First of all, thank you for bringing back the comments section. I certainly appreciate it. I was wondering if perhaps it could be tweaked to get it to more closely mirror the old format? Right now, only one level of replies is allowed, after that the conversation ends (I can reply to a post, and they can reply to my reply but nothing further). That being the case the back-and-forth discussion is seriously curtailed."

I will see what I can do, but as a reminder, it's a different platform. It's not going to be exactly the same.