Sunday was a rough one, and it didn't seem that way going into halftime. But as Mike LaFleur emphasized, games are 60 minutes. I seem to have learned that somewhere along the way. The Cardinals move on to Week 3; we move on to this week's mailbag. Don't forget to send a question for a future mailbag with at least a first name and last initial.
From Glen Gregory:
"Will Johnson and Max Melton are both banged up, Garrett Williams still isn't 100 percent so he hasn't even been playing. We are suddenly thin on CBs so once again we must ask why did we cut Sean Murphy-Bunting? Did he request his release? It just doesn't make sense. I understand he was disappointing from an impact perspective, but there's no way our practice squad guys like King or Jones are better CBs than him."
Obviously, losing Will Johnson is a harsh blow. But a couple quick things we need to clarify here, Glen. To begin with, SMB was more of a nickel and didn't particularly shine outside, and that's where Johnson (and Melton) play. Second, no, SMB did not request his release. Third, not sure who Jones is. Fourth, King is now on the roster, and even before this weekend, I was told there is a belief he is one of the team's better nickel cornerbacks. So yes, I dare say the Cardinals thought they had better options.
OK, maybe just needed to clarify. Not sure what else there is to say. (Eventually, Starling Thomas V will be healthy too, in theory.)
From Trae L:
"Hi Darren! Appreciate the mailbag as always and I enjoy hearing you and the others on Cards Underground! I just wanted to get your perspective on MHJ. Some people in the Valley believe that he's now a bust or that he's not getting open, but I was at the Seahawks game. He was wide open at least four or five times. Brissett never looked his way. Do you think it is due to a lack of trust or is it scheme as to why Harrison has suddenly become a non-factor?"
With all due respect to you Trae, I don't know if I can a) take your word for the times he was open and b) sidestep the idea that finding a pass catcher open when you are standing on the field with 270-pound guys trying to level you is the same as watching the same play from the stands. Without knowing the specific plays or context, it's hard to know if Brissett never really looked his way nor whether he was open in those circumstances. LaFleur did say the second play from scrimmage was supposed to be an MHJ deep shot, until the play wasn't executed cleanly.
That all said, I think a lot of things go into the equation. I think Brissett is going to go to where the play/open men generally dictate, but the defense has a say in how quickly that happens. But yes, I think scheme plays a part. If Harrison is the "Devante Adams" in what LaFleur is doing, and Wilson is the "Puka Nakua," then Wilson likely will get more targets. It's also moot when the Cardinals are running a grand total of 12 offensive plays prior to the final two run-out-the-clocks in the second half. That's simply not enough plays to do anything.
From Barry Baldwin:
"Just two questions that you are probably going to receive several times this week, Darren:
- This game Marvin Harrison was not doubled team the whole game like last week against the Chargers. We have been told over and over that, because of his size, he can win contested catches. If that is the case, then why did Brissett only target him one time?
- We all know that Seattle probably has the best defense in the NFL. They have a tremendously strong front line and it is very difficult to run on them. How did the Cardinals plan to beat Seattle when the longest pass of the day was only nine yards?!?
As always, absolutely love your mailbag and the work that your team puts in. I am hoping to see more of Dani Sureck do her one and one interviews with a variety of players. Last year I always found something interesting and unexpected in those interviews."
I don't know why Harrison didn't get targeted more. You noting that Harrison can make contested catches reminds me of when Kurt Warner had to be told repeatedly just trust Larry Fitzgerald to come down with those passes before he'd throw to tight windows. Then again, Warner never really minded throwing a pick or two. Brissett has one of the lowest interception percentages in NFL history, so he probably will approach it differently.
As for the longer passes, I feel confident in saying the Cardinals did not plan to have their longest pass be nine yards. At the same time, I am guessing the idea was that the Cardinals didn't want the Seahawks to wreak havoc with their pass rush and wanted to use quicker passing. When the defense can cause those problems with only four rushing, however, that leaves a lot of defenders to come up and make stops and avoid a lot of YAC.
From David Beiber:
"How could we let the league's best WR be open so frequently (and please don't say that's what makes him a great receiver). Do you think we may have played bit too much zone defense?"
I mean, the definition of a great receiver, in part, is that he is able to produce even when defenses know he's coming. That's fact. In Jaxon Smith-Njigba's case, part of the issues on Sunday was a lack of pressure on Drew Lock, allowing JSN to find spots where he was open, and certainly, coverages could have been better. You absolutely have to be on the same page back there, and the Cardinals were not for that 82-yard TD pass.
As for "too much zone," I have no idea. My counter to that is if you are playing man, are you just double-teaming JSN? Because if you aren't in zone, you have to bracket him in the least. And that means one less guy against the run -- and the Seahawks did fine with the run even without one less guy against them.
From Dhruv Parmar:
"Hey Darren. I have a friend who is a long time Seahawks fan. I was on a trip to Seattle recently post-Super Bowl win. As a Cardinals fan it sucked that I had to walk in to an official Seahawks store and get him a jersey for his birthday.
I really like the heavy-set idea where we are using Trey heavily under run disguise. I wonder if for some of these sets or others we bring in Carson Beck over Brissett who is likely more mobile to bootleg/a designed QB run or throw it on the run.
For one JSN touchdown we had our best safety covering him in Budda and our best linebacker playing zone in front of him. For other one he was wide open. As good as defense played how will we account for talented X-receivers going forward?
Other than that I believe few plays here and there would have given us some momentum like scoring on Zaven Collins strip and special teams fumble on Seahawks return. Planning to go see Cardinals at Giants game on Oct. 4. Hope it will be more fun than last game."
I think we are still much too early to wonder about Carson Beck being in this lineup. Things can always change, but certainly, a different QB brings different skillsets and different strengths within the offense.
As for covering JSN, as I noted above, you can plan the best you can. But I do believe that the best wideouts are going to get theirs, and I also believe the best way to defend is to harass the QB. The Cardinals need to be more consistent in that regard.
From Cameron D:
"I thought the OL played better with Jon Gaines at right guard over Isaiah Adams. I certainly don't think Adams has done enough to secure the starting the job. If the best players play, I strongly believe Gaines should be the starter.
Also, our defense has a lot of problems, but none worse than than outside pass rush. Forget sacks, I cant remember getting so little pressure even. But I want to talk about Josh Sweat. We're told he had a small procedure on his knee this offseason and didn't practice at all in camp while recovering. Is it fair to wonder if his knee is a problem? BJ Ojulari also wasn't the same after his knee injury, and it's the reason he's no longer here."
Just to clarify, you are giving Gaines the nod over Adams because Gaines played better against a Chargers team that apparently isn't as good as anyone thought, and Adams played against inarguably the best defense in football. Got it.
We will see what happens with Adams, but I'm going to go with what the coaches see. Maybe they drop Gaines back in the lineup this week.
Fair to wonder about the pass rush. Sweat did not have a procedure on his knee; we don't know what it was but he said it was not the knee.
From Stan B:
"Do you believe 2026 is a prove-it year for Paris Johnson Jr? He spoke a lot in the offseason about his extension and wanting to be the highest paid OT. I like Paris, love his leadership, but he's not the best tackle in the NFL. He's also missed 8 games in 3 years. So with that said, do you believe Paris is playing for that big extension this season or do you think its just a matter of time before we extend him?"
I'm not sure what you mean by prove-it. He is a starter in this league. Prove-it year to me means you want to get rid of the guy if the year doesn't play out a certain way; the Cardinals have no desire to do that in any circumstance.
As for an extension, Monti Ossenfort has said he wants Johnson long-term. That's a fact, just like it's a fact he is under contract through 2027 (giving the Cardinals some time), and that it's a fact that Johnson will no doubt want a huge deal, and a fact that left tackles get paid.
If I had to guess right now it's that an extension will happen at some point, but some point doesn't necessarily have to be soon.
From Clark P:
"A lot of QBs have gone down around the league. What are the chances we trade Minshew? He looked stellar in the preseason so there must be some interest in him. Its a win/win in terms of we gain capital for a player who doesn't play, and Minshew gets to go play. Obvious elephant in the room is Beck will need to play eventually anyways, so why not just clear the log jam?"
I'd never rule anything out, especially when you correctly note that there is a logjam. That said, I don't know if any of these teams are wanting to deal for a QB. To me, you'd make the trade for a guy to play, but none of these guys hurt seem to be out long-term and also need a starter. The Bears are saying Caleb Williams is week to week. The Commanders already have Marcus Mariota, who knows the offense and I would guess would play over anyone they traded for. Jackson Dart just got hurt as I am typing, but they have Jameis Winston.
Trades only work if someone wants to make a trade.
From Art Schwalger:
"Both Jacoby Brissett and Mike LaFleur say to flush the Seahawks game and move on. I've been a football fan my whole life, so I understand that's the standard answer from all teams after a bad loss but I still don't like it. I've always felt losses like that indicate a significant flaw in your team that should not be flushed, but obsessively autopsied and remedied so that it doesn't happen again. I would not forget about it, I would think about it every second of every day until the on-field product showed that the problem was in fact fixed. Why am I wrong?"
I don't know. Why?
As far as moving on, if you don't think players and coaches don't autopsy games -- losses and wins -- to death, I don't know what to tell you. Although mostly this thought process feels like a frustrated fan response than someone who would actually function well within the locker room.
I don't know what you do for a living, but if you had a bad day at work of your own doing, you believe dwelling on it long-term would be good for you? OK, you say, "I would fix it and then not have to dwell on it." Then think of it this way; you make mistakes at work, but some of them is because of outside factors (in NFL terms, that's the other team, to make plain the analogy.) Are you still dwelling? Would be a hard way to live.
From Raymond A:
"With how little Darius Robinson produces do you think he would be better at end? I believe that was his position in college and on the interior he gets pushed back yards and yards from the line of scrimmage."
Just had someone else bring this up in a recent mailbag. At some point I hope to bring it up, but in college I think he was all over the place. Does he have the ability to drop in some situations, or set the edge? Those are all questions he'd have to answer.
From Lil Bigs:
"Are you going to post the weekly snap counts and PFF high grades again this season? Please Darren, we enjoy it so!"
I no longer have access to PFF grades and to be honest, I have soured on the grades themselves. As for the snaps, I'll be honest, you are one of the few that have said as much; there wasn't enough readership to keep it going.
From Cam Millan:
"In terms of fastest-all-time winning over the fans, I think Mack Wilson is still No. 1 but Dewey Wingard is a close No. 2. We need better CB play, and maybe we are a draft or FA away from solidifying those corps. And we are still in need of a No. 1 pass rusher, which good news, the 2027 draft is loaded with blue chip pass rushers."
The Cardinals do need steady cornerback play, and losing Will Johnson doesn't help. As far as a pass rusher, you aren't wrong. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had taken David Bailey at 3 in the draft had he been there, even if Jeremiyah Love was on the board.
From Don P:
"Hi Darren. Last year you were you were designating if an opposing player on the injury report was a starter, second-string, etc. and it was very helpful. Any chance of continuing that this year?"
Unfortunately, we won't be doing that this season. We may try something like putting an asterisk next to a starter. But the other stuff was too labor intensive.
From John Turbo:
"So how do you like the quarterback situation now? You signed a backup QB for what he wanted. You listened to players who were 3-14 last year. And for me as a diehard Cardinal fan I'm upset with our defense and our draft picks."
I appreciate your diehard fanness, but that's a lot of anger there. A bad game for Jacoby Brissett yes. But time to move on from the contract. He's making $15 million. That's what he should be making if you asked him to start.
From Chris Pritchett:
"Hey Darren, a question from across the pond. FYI I'm a medical doctor but not a sports specialist. Kitan Crawford's injury looked unpleasant to say the least. It really sucked to see. It's made me wonder if 'serious' (however you want to define that) injuries have increased in occurrence NFL wide over the last few decades as 1) number of games has increased 2) players increasingly become absolute units. The amount of power they must put through their joints and the speed at which they collide must have increased over the years? Yours truly, a lightweight skinny Englishman"
Did you go see my Sun Devils over at Wembley? Just curious.
I don't have any data about "serious" injuries, but I would guess the number of games hasn't raised the number of serious injuries. I can see two factors there: artificial turf, and more importantly, your other guess -- bigger and faster players. It's really amazing how these huge men crash into each other each play and there aren't more guys getting hurt.
From Matthew Stroh:
"Hey Darren, hope all is going well for you. I know we just lost. I'm not saying that a loss isn't good but you know what. It's the second game of the year and the Seattle Seahawks are probably the best team in the NFL. I feel like before the defense was just overworked and had no brakes. We were actually hanging in there pretty good.
"If Jacoby Brissett's hamstring is sore and it is going to affect his accuracy, do you think there's a chance that next game Gardner Minshew will start? What is your opinion about the offensive play calls? I feel like they're the best. It's been in a long time, but what is your opinion? Thank you for your time."
I don't think there is an issue with Brissett, although I know it was a topic for the TV guys. First injury report is Wednesday. But I don't see Minshew starting next game. Brissett is the kind of guy who will be itching to get back on the field and have a comeback game after what happened against the Seahawks.
From Kenny Doyen:
"Good day Mr. Urban. Long time mailbag fan here. Are you excited to have the comments back? If only so you do not have to answer questions about its return? (I am aware that now I am asking you to, once again, answer questions about it and for that I apologize.)
"Was the mailbag ever intended to be this sort of 'catch all' Cardinals platform or was your original idea strictly ball? Was just curious. I appreciate what you do here and I can tell you take great care and pride in your work. I respect that. Thank you sir!"
Excited? Not sure that's the word for it. Seems like a lot of the people we tried to get it back for aren't happy, so ... yeah.
I created the mailbag in part because it was a good suggestion from the league. An article like this tends to keep fans interested to read through (got to love time on website!) but also to provide a way for fans to get their questions answered. Better way to do it than Twitter, in my opinion.
But I do like it when it is more catch-all. Breaks it up, we can have some fun with it, and frankly, I'm OK when every question isn't about MHJ targets or the pass rush or who they could draft.
