Cardinals Cover 2 - ‘Great Guy’ Gardner Minshew Doing ‘The Best I Can’ To Help Cardinals
Ep. 1009 - Signed back in March, Gardner Minshew is currently QB1. How long will he last in that role? Good question. For his part, it doesn’t sound like Minshew is all that worried about his role, at least not publicly. Craig Grialou and Zach Gershman react to hearing from Minshew for the first time since he arrived in the desert. He spoke after Wednesday’s practice, which was the second OTA open to the media. Craig and Zach discuss what they saw and a lot about what they heard from head coach Mike LaFleur and safety Budda Baker, who mentioned that there’s a ping pong table in the locker room. Interesting. Also, the preseason schedule is finalized; just when are the Cardinals playing their four games?
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Speaker 1: Right now, he's QB one. We'll see where things stand
Speaker 1: after the next several months. Scott zach Ersten Wickenberg Gang.
Speaker 1: For the first time since his arrival in the Desert,
Speaker 1: we got a chance to hear from Gardner Minshew, who
Speaker 1: again right now is running with the first team offense.
Speaker 1: What he had to say, plus the role Ping Pong
Speaker 1: is playing in the locker room, and the preseason schedule
Speaker 1: is finalized. It's Cardinals Cover two and it starts now.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Cardinals Cover two.
Speaker 1: Who to Baker? What Heart? What rent? This guy's unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Cardinals Cover two is presented by Hyundai, proud partner of
Speaker 2: the Arizona Cardinals, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Visit Azycardinals
Speaker 2: dot Com Slash podcast.
Speaker 3: Right at the five hit the ends up for the
Speaker 3: Cardinal touchdown, Drey McBride, he's been an absolute monster.
Speaker 1: Here's Craig Grioler all right, right off the top. I
Speaker 1: have to say this because he deserves it, and I
Speaker 1: don't want to forget. I have purposely not said anything
Speaker 1: to this individual all day long, so I'll say it
Speaker 1: right now on Cardinals Cover two. Happy Birthday, Cody Fincher Yeah,
Speaker 1: Cody Fincher, Happy birthday. Thank you guys.
Speaker 3: Rolando was recording the UH was recording their podcast right beforehand,
Speaker 3: and he said something to Cody and Spanish. I'm not
Speaker 3: sure what it was, but I second it.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what he said. Hopefully it was positive.
Speaker 1: Another positive as we continue to hype up Cody here
Speaker 1: on this edition of Cardinals Cover two presented by Hundai,
Speaker 1: partner of the Arizona Cardinals. Producer no longer associated producer,
Speaker 1: He's just producer, which is a promotion.
Speaker 3: This is turning into Cody's Cardinals Cover two, which isn't
Speaker 3: a bad thing.
Speaker 1: No, I think it's great. It's on his birthday. We could,
Speaker 1: we could, we could give it to him one day
Speaker 1: out of three sixty five. I think tomorrow we will
Speaker 1: humble him. We will completely ignore and forget Cody. Who
Speaker 1: there's only one Tomorrow. There's only one Cody, and his
Speaker 1: name's Cody Side exactly. And that is the transition to
Speaker 1: Week two, Phase three of OTAs. As those continued on
Speaker 1: earlier on Wednesday, the one big difference between last week's
Speaker 1: OTA and this week's OTA, it was just a little
Speaker 1: bit warmer, eighty eight degrees still a bit of a breeze,
Speaker 1: but we are slowly increasing the temperature to the point
Speaker 1: where next week, when there's availability, I believe it's scheduled
Speaker 1: to be or forecast to be one oh five, maybe
Speaker 1: as high as one oh seven. So I'm not looking
Speaker 1: forward to that. But hey, anytime you get a day
Speaker 1: in Arizona in summer where it's under ninety degrees when
Speaker 1: you have to be outside, well, when you get to
Speaker 1: be outside, I will take it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm gonna ignore what you just said there about
Speaker 3: what next week's forecast is going to look like.
Speaker 1: Surprised exactly.
Speaker 3: Michael Flord said he can't even think about Friday's practice
Speaker 3: on a Wednesday, so who am I to think about
Speaker 3: the weather next week? The big difference for me was
Speaker 3: that the guys were practicing on the near field as
Speaker 3: opposed to the far field. Uh So that was good
Speaker 3: to actually get up close and personal because and there's
Speaker 3: there's a reason why I bring this up. With the
Speaker 3: new strength and conditioning staff, the way that the Cardinals
Speaker 3: are working out in terms of their warm ups is
Speaker 3: a little bit different. So we noticed it from Afar.
Speaker 3: It's not drastically different. You can't you know reinvent necessarily
Speaker 3: how to stretch, but it was interesting to see up
Speaker 3: close and personal just some of the subtle differences that
Speaker 3: are in the strets and stretches and you see which
Speaker 3: position groups are the stretches are intended for more based
Speaker 3: off of how they you know, how they handle it.
Speaker 3: But that was something that was interesting me.
Speaker 1: And at least during the open portion the position drills
Speaker 1: was for some groups, some band work yep, working on
Speaker 1: strengthening your core, some resistance training again, all with the
Speaker 1: benefit you hope to keep guys healthy on the field.
Speaker 1: Outside of the stretching, anything else catch your eye. I
Speaker 1: know last week the big talk was Jeremiah Love returning kicks.
Speaker 1: Did not see that when we saw special teams during
Speaker 1: the open portion. We did see some punt return work.
Speaker 1: Michael Wilson, as we've seen him do during training camp,
Speaker 1: was among those players fielding punts, but we didn't see
Speaker 1: anyone fielding kickoffs, at least not during the open portion.
Speaker 3: Yeah, not during the open portion, So Jeremiah Love was
Speaker 3: standing off to the side during those because I know
Speaker 3: it became such a headline last last week that Jeremiah
Speaker 3: was taking some of those kicks so nothing that the
Speaker 3: Bird gang needs to necessarily worry about. What that anything
Speaker 3: else that really stood out. Look, you're only going to
Speaker 3: see so much when they're in T shirt and shorts.
Speaker 3: And during the open portion of practice I did. I
Speaker 3: thought Darius Robinson woke very quick today. I was standing
Speaker 3: by the defensive line room for a little bit, so
Speaker 3: I saw him. He looked very quick, and there were
Speaker 3: some notable absences too that were not there. Now nothing
Speaker 3: necessary to be cause for concern. Michael Force said he
Speaker 3: was very aware of who was not there and why
Speaker 3: that they were not there. But I noticed that Darius
Speaker 3: Speed some of the guys who were not there, although
Speaker 3: there doesn't need to be a concern. And then I
Speaker 3: noticed Darlink Thomas actually doing a handful more of the
Speaker 3: drills with the cornerback room, and there was times last
Speaker 3: week where he was working off to the side. So
Speaker 3: to see him at least a little bit more active
Speaker 3: in some of these drills during the open portion, I
Speaker 3: thought that was an encouraging sign.
Speaker 1: I did mention or notice Star as well, not a ton,
Speaker 1: but at least something.
Speaker 3: And that band work that you were talking about he
Speaker 3: was taking part in. There were the other drills where
Speaker 3: you know defensive backs coach cornerbacks coach Zach Cathridge would
Speaker 3: start to point one direction, they would go that one direction,
Speaker 3: then he pointed a different direction. It'll all be center
Speaker 3: around misdirection. Then the ball would be loose and you
Speaker 3: have to go be able to scoop it up. And
Speaker 3: those are some of the drills that star took.
Speaker 1: Pardon so progressing to the next phase whatever he's he's out.
Speaker 3: There on the practice field right now, and I think
Speaker 3: that that is an encouraging sign. We spoke with Will
Speaker 3: Johnson last week and he talked about how the cornerback room.
Speaker 3: He believes that they have the pieces to be a
Speaker 3: really solid room. And I think now you add or
Speaker 3: you bring back in more of an active participant role
Speaker 3: with Starling Thomas and with shar Murphy Bunting and that
Speaker 3: Nicol slot, it can be It could be a good
Speaker 3: room because you already have Will Johnson and Denzel Burke,
Speaker 3: two really solid outside quarterbacks. Max Melton showed flashes during
Speaker 3: last year and then the year prior. So I do
Speaker 3: think that it is encouraging sign to see Starling out
Speaker 3: there in the mix, because now that's going to turn
Speaker 3: into a big competition come training camp.
Speaker 1: You mentioned SMB once again working with the safeties. He's
Speaker 1: not the only corner with the safeties. Notice Jaden Davis
Speaker 1: kyln King working at that nick corner. Physician Garrett Williams
Speaker 1: who did make an appearance at practice and was watching
Speaker 1: the safety's slash nickel corners work and almost mimicking what
Speaker 1: they were doing. So getting those mental reps even though
Speaker 1: physically he's not able to participate. So something to keep
Speaker 1: an eye on if the Cardinals do go with five DB's.
Speaker 1: Is it a third corner or is it a third
Speaker 1: safety meaning that third safety is the nickel corner? But
Speaker 1: is it maybe Rabbit, is it Keaton Crawford, is it
Speaker 1: SMB some combination because most defenses will play with five
Speaker 1: dbs because most offenses are gonna have four or five
Speaker 1: wideouts or pass catchers out on the field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And that was one of the things that I
Speaker 3: asked Buddha Baker about, not necessarily directly with this, but
Speaker 3: about the defensive backs.
Speaker 1: That they have in the room. He's so used to
Speaker 1: working with JT.
Speaker 3: He played with He played with Jalen Thompson for seven
Speaker 3: after the Cardinals selected him in the supplemental draft. Now
Speaker 3: he is with the Dallas Cowboys. This is going to
Speaker 3: be Buddha's first time in a long time not necessarily
Speaker 3: knowing what the person next to him is thinking, just
Speaker 3: by giving them each other eye contact. So in that case,
Speaker 3: that also depends who does Buddha also have that chemistry
Speaker 3: with do you want rabbit back there? Do you want
Speaker 3: it to be dewey wingered back there? If you want
Speaker 3: rabbit back there, well, that then changes things with John
Speaker 3: Murphy bunting in that nickel slot. So it will be
Speaker 3: fascinating to see how many defensive backs this team ends
Speaker 3: up keeping on the fifty three man roster. That'll be
Speaker 3: one to watch com training camp because last year, I'm
Speaker 3: pretty sure it was six or seven different cornerbacks that
Speaker 3: they had, and then the four safeties that were in
Speaker 3: the room, So there will be a lot of dbs
Speaker 3: that would be for sure.
Speaker 1: Did you happen to hear Buddha mentioned a ping pong
Speaker 1: table now in the locker room? I did.
Speaker 3: I've heard. I've heard stories about this ping pong table
Speaker 3: off the record, and it seems like it's bringing a
Speaker 3: lot of competition, and I think that's a good thing.
Speaker 3: I think that's a good thing. Actually, we know a
Speaker 3: lot of the guys use the ping pong paddle as
Speaker 3: like a part of their work, part of the routine.
Speaker 3: Michael Wilson is one of those guys that has credited
Speaker 3: being able to react quickly to the football coming his
Speaker 3: direction through ping pong. Not only through ping pong, but
Speaker 3: that is something that he believes has played a part
Speaker 3: in his success. If that adds a level of an
Speaker 3: element of improvement towards their on the field play, you
Speaker 3: take it. But I think in general, it's good to
Speaker 3: have some competition in the room. When the locker room
Speaker 3: is lively, and we've been in there when it's dead,
Speaker 3: when the team is losing, it can be pretty tough
Speaker 3: to be in a locker room. Guys are trying to
Speaker 3: figure out they're in their heads trying to figure out
Speaker 3: what can we do to return to the win column.
Speaker 3: In this case, I think it adds some competition and
Speaker 3: remind some of the guys about the fire that they
Speaker 3: all have within them.
Speaker 1: And getting to know your teammate, some of the new
Speaker 1: faces entering the building, and if you're going to come
Speaker 1: to these voluntary sessions in the offseason, make players want
Speaker 1: to be here and then stick around after the work
Speaker 1: is done. It's in between practice, it's in between meetings,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you're picking up a paddle
Speaker 1: and playing and then going back and forth. It's no
Speaker 1: different than if you're grabbing a bite deep and talking
Speaker 1: with the guy at a table. You're just now competing.
Speaker 1: And I do think it's good for teams to do this.
Speaker 1: We'll see if it stays come the regular season, where
Speaker 1: there's more of a focus on the day to day
Speaker 1: and the actual work, but getting to know players and
Speaker 1: developing that camaraderie and that chemistry. I do think it's
Speaker 1: important because I do think it can translate off the
Speaker 1: field to on the field, as far as you want
Speaker 1: to respect the guy next to you and feel confident
Speaker 1: in the guy next to you that they're going to
Speaker 1: do their job and have your back if something.
Speaker 3: Should break down. Yeh, the ping pong table on wheels.
Speaker 3: Is it going to make its way to training can
Speaker 3: at State Farm Stadium? I'm not sure, but I do
Speaker 3: believe we're not far off when we're talking about how
Speaker 3: this could still create that chemistry. And something I liked
Speaker 3: is the player that Buddha said that he went against
Speaker 3: was Michael Wilson. And I'm not just saying that is
Speaker 3: a good thing, because Michael Wilson is probably one of
Speaker 3: the top guys when it comes to playing ping pong
Speaker 3: on the team. But this is how you connect an
Speaker 3: entire locker room. The guys who sit on one side of
Speaker 3: the room versus the other side of the room that
Speaker 3: might not spend as much FaceTime together because their backs
Speaker 3: might be face to one another. I think in this case,
Speaker 3: like a lot of these guys are coming from these
Speaker 3: big time college programs where you don't just have a
Speaker 3: ping pong table. You have golf simulators, you have all
Speaker 3: these extra things, the video game corner, all these different
Speaker 3: areas in terms of ways that you could stay connected
Speaker 3: to one another regardless of what side of the ball
Speaker 3: you have. In the NFL, not a lot of teams
Speaker 3: in their facilities have that. Some of them do have
Speaker 3: ping pong, you know, tables that are in the room,
Speaker 3: and I think in this case, the Cardinals are doing
Speaker 3: their own part of it by having the ping pong table.
Speaker 3: When it creates that camaraderie and that chemistry amongst the team, head.
Speaker 1: Coach Micha Lafleur. Week two of OTA's he was asked
Speaker 1: where he thought the team was at this point versus
Speaker 1: where he had them maybe penciled in or planned to be,
Speaker 1: and he mentioned that he thought that they were further
Speaker 1: ahead and credited a lot of the veterans on the team,
Speaker 1: returning players, veterans that they have added. So it does
Speaker 1: sound to me like, yes, they are getting their work done,
Speaker 1: they're paying attention to the details, yet they're also leaving
Speaker 1: themselves room to have some fun as far as whether
Speaker 1: that's getting to know each other just conversations or again
Speaker 1: competing with ping pong table or ping pong paddles.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think too, It's one of the things
Speaker 3: that I've been trying to listen to when we talk
Speaker 3: to some of these players, is they're not talking about
Speaker 3: building a culture. They already have a culture. It's kind
Speaker 3: of the vibe that I've been getting so far, and
Speaker 3: I think that's a credit to the guys that are
Speaker 3: in the room. I think it's a credit to Michael
Speaker 3: Floor and how he's been able to establish that so
Speaker 3: early on in OTAs, because we've seen locker rooms where
Speaker 3: it takes a long time to actually develop that culture,
Speaker 3: and I believe so far that is starting to take place.
Speaker 3: We could only talk so much about what goes on
Speaker 3: in the closed portion of practice, and by so much
Speaker 3: I mean nothing. I will say though, you could tell, though,
Speaker 3: that the guys are having fun out there.
Speaker 1: They enjoy each other's company.
Speaker 3: And that's not just the players, that's the players with
Speaker 3: the coaches. And it's so tough to not want to
Speaker 3: share some of the stuff that goes on, but you
Speaker 3: could tell that everybody is really rooting for one another.
Speaker 3: It's all centered around competition, no doubt about it, but
Speaker 3: there's definitely a lot of respect that the guys have
Speaker 3: for one another in that locker room. Maybe that took
Speaker 3: place because of one person beating another person on the
Speaker 3: ping pong cord I'm not sure are the ping pong
Speaker 3: table rather, But at the end of the day, it's
Speaker 3: to see the guys out on the field and how
Speaker 3: they actually seem to enjoy being there.
Speaker 1: It's been encouraging to see. You hear the cliche iron
Speaker 1: sharpens iron. It's true. Yes, everyone wants to start, everyone
Speaker 1: wants to be on the field, Yet at the same time,
Speaker 1: everyone wants to win. So maybe it's not me in
Speaker 1: this particular series or particular game, and it's the guy
Speaker 1: behind me or the guy in front of me. But
Speaker 1: are we all working together towards one common goal, and
Speaker 1: that is walking off the field Sunday with the win.
Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, that's all that matters.
Speaker 1: That should be what all that matters. Maybe maybe more
Speaker 1: so for some of those veteran players who've been in
Speaker 1: the league, and then even the younger players. It's okay,
Speaker 1: you kind of learn that a little bit, but everyone
Speaker 1: feels good about themselves when you win, regardless if you
Speaker 1: had a great game but you didn't have a win.
Speaker 1: It's hard to enjoy your individual success if you're not
Speaker 1: having the team success.
Speaker 3: And I think some of the players have really started
Speaker 3: to flip the page. And I think you could tell
Speaker 3: that they've started to flip the page because the ways
Speaker 3: that we talk to them towards the end of last
Speaker 3: season is drastically different than how they're communicating now. There's
Speaker 3: a lot of hope and optimism from the guys in
Speaker 3: that locker room, and I get it. It's that time
Speaker 3: of year where everybody's going to be hopeful and optimistic
Speaker 3: and believe that they are the team to beat. But
Speaker 3: everyone could think it.
Speaker 1: Do you believe it?
Speaker 3: And so far in the conversations that we seem to
Speaker 3: have with the guys on the team, they're not talking
Speaker 3: about how they're far apart. They're talking about how they're
Speaker 3: ready to go. Now. The rest of the NFL is
Speaker 3: really talented. Every team is improving in their own ways,
Speaker 3: and that's going to be the tough part is seeing
Speaker 3: how much further along you have improved. Injuries were a
Speaker 3: big deal last year, so the team might not look
Speaker 3: drastically different, but this was a team that was supposed
Speaker 3: to compete for a playoff spot last year, and then
Speaker 3: all the injuries derailed that really early in the season,
Speaker 3: as early as the training camp part of it, because
Speaker 3: you did lose your two outside starting cornerbacks and Sean
Speaker 3: Murphy Bunting and Starlin Thomas. To swing it back to
Speaker 3: our earlier conversation, that is when the change really started
Speaker 3: to happen, and then all the other injuries that ended
Speaker 3: up taking place. But the guys in the locker room,
Speaker 3: they believe that they are close, and Buddha Baker said
Speaker 3: it today. Are on Wednesday when we spoke with him.
Speaker 3: He said, we have a really good group here and
Speaker 3: I'm excited to see what we can do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Buddha was all smiles when talking about Mike Laflora
Speaker 1: and the players in the locker room. Now again it
Speaker 1: is voluntary. Players don't have to be here. You hope
Speaker 1: players want to be here, and those absences planned absences.
Speaker 1: There's been good communication between team and player. If you're
Speaker 1: not here, I eate Jacoby Brissette, the team is aware,
Speaker 1: Josh what the team is aware, and in both instances
Speaker 1: no updates, and it doesn't sound like Lafleur is concerned
Speaker 1: about either. In fact, asked about Brisette specifically quote He'll
Speaker 1: be just fine. And then the answer to Josh Sweat
Speaker 1: and the report about the team has received trade calls,
Speaker 1: all the flour said was I'm just glad I don't
Speaker 1: have to game plan against him, meaning Josh Wett anymore.
Speaker 1: So again, that's where we're at. As I've mentioned before
Speaker 1: on other shows other platforms, let's have this conversation when
Speaker 1: we get to mini camp when it is mandatory and
Speaker 1: you have to be here otherwise there are consequences. Until then,
Speaker 1: you just enjoy the fact or relish in the fact
Speaker 1: that there are a number of players who are here
Speaker 1: and are getting better.
Speaker 3: And the tough part is because of their positions too.
Speaker 3: It's not just you know, any average Joe out there.
Speaker 3: It's your number one sack getter and your presumptive starting quarterback.
Speaker 3: So I understand why there's some concern from the fan
Speaker 3: base about those two players specifically and their status with
Speaker 3: the team. I did think coach Lafor's bite there about
Speaker 3: not having a game plan against Josh Swett was pretty telling.
Speaker 3: It makes it seem like he believes Josh Swett is
Speaker 3: staying here, and I thought that that was something worth noting.
Speaker 3: And then with what you talked about with Jacoby Brissett.
Speaker 3: He has talked about Jacoby Brissett a ton throughout the offseason,
Speaker 3: saying that it's not like he hasn't.
Speaker 1: Played football before.
Speaker 3: It's not like he doesn't know the speed of the game.
Speaker 1: He does.
Speaker 3: He's going to be able to if in the time
Speaker 3: that he does come, he will be able to pick
Speaker 3: up the scheme because he's played a lot of football
Speaker 3: and he's been in probably some variation of it in
Speaker 3: the past. But the thing is is from the guys
Speaker 3: that are upstairs. They need to figure out a way
Speaker 3: to whatever the situation is, and there's obviously clear communication
Speaker 3: between the two sides for both players, which is important.
Speaker 3: At some point it's going it's going to be resolved
Speaker 3: one way or another. And whether that is with their
Speaker 3: with their contracts, remaining, the same, teams changing, all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff, none of us know. But there's also
Speaker 3: a very real world where come mandatory Mini camp in
Speaker 3: the next two weeks, I'm pretty sure is what it is.
Speaker 3: These guys will be ready to go. There's a there's
Speaker 3: a chance that that happens. Because last year Josh Swtt
Speaker 3: was not here until mandatory Mini Camp began. So it's
Speaker 3: not a it's not rare to not see It's not
Speaker 3: a new thing for Jet It's not it's not.
Speaker 1: It's not rare to see him.
Speaker 3: This was the situation last year, but you knew he
Speaker 3: was at least going to be walking through the doors
Speaker 3: once mandatory began. Jacoby Bressat's case, it's just a matter
Speaker 3: of coming to some sort of resolution.
Speaker 1: Without Jacoby in the building, that has opened up the
Speaker 1: door for some more reps, some more activity for Gardner,
Speaker 1: Minshew Keten Slovas and Carson Beck. We heard from Gardner
Speaker 1: for the first time since he signed with the Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals back in March, and certainly sounds like a guy
Speaker 1: who is very well aware of his place in the NFL.
Speaker 1: You and I were talking about this before we hit record,
Speaker 1: and for someone who's entering year eight in this league,
Speaker 1: Gardner Minshew has been able to have a sustained career,
Speaker 1: a successful career because he knows what is asked of him.
Speaker 1: He can be that starter, he can be the backup,
Speaker 1: he can be a veteran, he can be a mentor
Speaker 1: what do you need Gardner to be and he will be.
Speaker 1: He's very comfortable in that role. Not always easy for
Speaker 1: a lot of players to kind of buy into that, because,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, everyone would like to start, Everyone
Speaker 1: would like to see increase playing time or significant playing time.
Speaker 1: But Gardner strikes me, and this was the first time
Speaker 1: interacting with him, at least in a press conference setting,
Speaker 1: that he is here one because Cardinals wanted him, his
Speaker 1: connection with Michaelafluer going all the way back to the
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen Senior Bowl, and then the offense. Gardner likes
Speaker 1: what Michae Lflor has in store at least play and
Speaker 1: schematically for this offense in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3: Look, every quarterback you want to have the belief that
Speaker 3: they're a starter, and you wouldn't be in that room
Speaker 3: if you didn't believe that you can be that starter.
Speaker 3: And Gardner Minshew's case, he is as real as it gets.
Speaker 3: And that was one of the things that was asked
Speaker 3: of him about his personality and if that helps him
Speaker 3: because it's so well known and so publicized about all
Speaker 3: the different quirks that he has and the fact that
Speaker 3: he lives out of an RV most of the time
Speaker 3: and it's got a mattress in four wheels. So he
Speaker 3: said he's a doing all right. His personality is definitely
Speaker 3: a unique one and because of that, you never know
Speaker 3: what you're necessarily going to get from certain people. With Gardner,
Speaker 3: you know exactly what you were going to be getting
Speaker 3: from him, especially on the field as well. He's a consistent,
Speaker 3: reliable backup quarterback and he has tons of experience doing that.
Speaker 3: He has tons of experience starting, but most of his
Speaker 3: experience starting came because he had to slide in as
Speaker 3: a backup quarterback to end up taking that starting role
Speaker 3: in this case. Right now, for the first time in
Speaker 3: a long time, he is practicing as the QB one
Speaker 3: and that couldn't change when Jacoby Brissette comes here. I
Speaker 3: don't expect for it to change week one when Jacoby
Speaker 3: Prissette comes here, because Jacoby Pressett is very far behind
Speaker 3: in terms of working on the nuances of a Michael
Speaker 3: Floor system. Gardner Minshew has that relationship with Coach Lafour
Speaker 3: and that's one of the reasons why he's actually here
Speaker 3: in Arizona, dating back to their time at the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 3: So that I'm not saying that there's going to be
Speaker 3: a competition per se, but you at least know what
Speaker 3: you're going to be getting out of Gardner Minshew, both
Speaker 3: as a person and the type of personality that he is.
Speaker 3: And then on the field, you know that if he's
Speaker 3: prepared to be the starter, but you also have confidence
Speaker 3: that he can't be a really solid backup. Did you
Speaker 3: happen to read what Albert Breer wrote in his mailbag
Speaker 3: this week?
Speaker 1: I did not. All right, let me just inform you
Speaker 1: Zach and the rest of the burg gang, including the
Speaker 1: Birthday Boy over the Cody Fincher for at least for
Speaker 1: this day only. He's the birthday boy. This is what
Speaker 1: Albert wrote earlier this week. The Jacoby Brissett situation in
Speaker 1: Arizona is interesting in that Brissett, missing reps and a
Speaker 1: new offense now as OTA's keep rolling, could open the
Speaker 1: door for Gardner Minshew to swoop in and steal the job. Yes,
Speaker 1: Arizona told Brissett that he's the starter, but that's not
Speaker 1: a lifetime appointments and Minshew showing something could have an
Speaker 1: impact on Arizona's thinking.
Speaker 3: Doud he crazy? But if we would have told us
Speaker 3: back at the end of January Gardner Minshew is your
Speaker 3: starting quarterback, I think that there would be a lot
Speaker 3: of questions. But after watching him and seeing the way
Speaker 3: that he operates, I have confidence in what he can do.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying you're you're winning, You're going undefeated. That's
Speaker 3: not how the NFL works. But Gardner Minshew, from what
Speaker 3: we have seen so far and from what we can
Speaker 3: report on, has the respect of a lot of guys
Speaker 3: in that locker room, and I think that that's something
Speaker 3: worth nody. He can come in and swoop up and
Speaker 3: take some of the opportunities from Jacob Brissett, because truthfully,
Speaker 3: the two guys are not drastically much different in terms
Speaker 3: of their journey to getting to this point. It's funny, though,
Speaker 3: because we talk so much about or now I don't
Speaker 3: want to say we talk so much about it, but
Speaker 3: the headline is always brought up about, well, when can
Speaker 3: Carson Beck play?
Speaker 1: You drafted me in the third round.
Speaker 3: You want to see what the quarterback out of Miami
Speaker 3: is able to do. I think Gardner Minshew's trying to show, hey,
Speaker 3: before you get to the rook look at what I'm
Speaker 3: able to do. And he's almost to start the interrupting, Yeah,
Speaker 3: Gardner's almost the forgotten He is man in that room.
Speaker 3: With apologies to Keaton Slovis, but when you're talking about
Speaker 3: the quarterback, you're absolutely right, it's Jacoby, it's Carson's Like,
Speaker 3: wait a second, there's Gardner Minshew as well.
Speaker 1: Gardner Minshew's a good quarterback.
Speaker 3: You can't be in the league for this long, dating
Speaker 3: back to twenty nineteen when he was drafted. You can't
Speaker 3: be in the league this long by not being a
Speaker 3: dang good quarterback, and especially in a league where the
Speaker 3: backup quarterbacks are Oh, he's a revolving door of like,
Speaker 3: who could this next person be that's going to be
Speaker 3: coming in. The two guys that have remained staples as
Speaker 3: backup quarterbacks in the NFL have been Jacoby Brissette and
Speaker 3: have been Gardner Minshew, and I think right now you
Speaker 3: have the two guys that are in your quarterback room
Speaker 3: and both are competing for starting roles because there will
Speaker 3: be I believe some sort of a competition at least
Speaker 3: in the beginning when Jacoby Brissett comes to down, because
Speaker 3: we don't know when Jacoby Brissett is actually going to
Speaker 3: end up doing that.
Speaker 1: All credit to Gardner because he was asked about all
Speaker 1: of this as far as are you acting as if
Speaker 1: you're competing to be the starter? And his response, I
Speaker 1: thought was very honest given what we know of Gardner
Speaker 1: and his personality quote, I'm getting the reps I'm getting
Speaker 1: right now, trying to do the best I can, trying
Speaker 1: to help our team, and that's his focus. Again. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he would love to start. You're foolish if you
Speaker 1: don't want to start, but he is taking this day
Speaker 1: by day, much like his head coach, Michae Laflora. As
Speaker 1: far as get better today, we focus on tomorrow when
Speaker 1: tomorrow arrives. So I'll say this as well about Gardner
Speaker 1: because we brought up and we heard from Buddha Baker
Speaker 1: earlier on Wednesday. To hear Buddha a defensive player who's
Speaker 1: been in this locker room for now going on year ten,
Speaker 1: so he's well aware of the different personalities and faces
Speaker 1: that have walked in and out of that locker room
Speaker 1: over the years. To hear and not only here, but
Speaker 1: to see Buddha react when one Gardner's name was brought up,
Speaker 1: and then to hear Buddha call him a great dude,
Speaker 1: kind of like a California surf for he did the
Speaker 1: hang loose, hang loosely hand the moji. So there is
Speaker 1: some there is a reputation that Gardner Minshew has, but
Speaker 1: as he mentioned, any locker room he steps into, he
Speaker 1: has to earn the respect of those players because he's
Speaker 1: walking in to someone else's home at least for that
Speaker 1: brief period of time until he's welcomed in. It doesn't
Speaker 1: sound like it took Gardner very long to be welcomed
Speaker 1: and then feel a part of this team.
Speaker 3: Because I think his personality allows him to do that,
Speaker 3: and because he comes in with the with his identity
Speaker 3: that's so well known around the league. I mean, some
Speaker 3: of these guys when they're going through social media, they're like,
Speaker 3: who is this? Oh wait, that's Gardner Minshew. That's just
Speaker 3: posing in a very funky way, like like that's what
Speaker 3: he is, who he is. He is who he is,
Speaker 3: and that's something that I think, especially at the quarterback position,
Speaker 3: it's a very copy and paste league about the type
Speaker 3: of guys you want out there, and I get it.
Speaker 3: Gardner Minshew though, is a totally different quarterback in terms
Speaker 3: of just his personality from some of the other guys
Speaker 3: that are out there.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fascinating to see how this plays out.
Speaker 1: One other notes on Gardner because we're trying to learn
Speaker 1: what this offense might look like, and we're not gonna
Speaker 1: know until we see it come preseason, come or even
Speaker 1: going earlier than that, during the open portion of those
Speaker 1: in practices, during training camp, before the preseason, and obviously
Speaker 1: in the regular season. But what might a Mike Lafflor
Speaker 1: coached offense look like? And Gardner, without revealing too much,
Speaker 1: I think revealed a lot because he kind of compared
Speaker 1: it to an air raid attack that he had back
Speaker 1: in college at Washington State. So there's that aspect of Okay,
Speaker 1: let's just throw the ball fifty times and we're going
Speaker 1: to spread it out with four and five wide. But
Speaker 1: I think it's a little bit more nuanced in that
Speaker 1: because Gardner mentioned quote. It thrives talking about the offense
Speaker 1: off complimentary looks and simplicity with the illusion of complexity
Speaker 1: through motions, similar formations, which I thought was a fascinating
Speaker 1: collection of words put together to describe what Mike Laffluor
Speaker 1: has done before, certainly with the Los Angeles Rams. The
Speaker 1: offense on paper very simple for the players who are
Speaker 1: running it, but for the defense us who are trying
Speaker 1: to stop it, very complex because the idea is you're
Speaker 1: doing the same thing or very similar things, but you're
Speaker 1: tweaking it or giving it a different look to where
Speaker 1: the defense has to take a second or two seconds
Speaker 1: to figure out we didn't plan for this. But you
Speaker 1: look back, take a step back and realize, wait, it's
Speaker 1: the same play they ran back in the first quarter.
Speaker 1: They just did this differently, or they flipped it from
Speaker 1: the left to the right.
Speaker 3: And now you pair what has been known as one
Speaker 3: of the more creative defenses in the NFL with Nick
Speaker 3: Rolis with what is becoming one of the more creative offenses,
Speaker 3: at least from what we've heard with Michael four. It's
Speaker 3: an exciting pairing between the two sides, and I think
Speaker 3: offensively too. Like Budda Baker talked about it when he
Speaker 3: was talking about Michael four, he said that you could
Speaker 3: see a little bit of the Rams two point zho
Speaker 3: forty nine ers two point zero.
Speaker 1: A little bit of the old school Seahawks.
Speaker 3: I think in the case of what Gardner is saying
Speaker 3: about the old school air raid offerends that he ran
Speaker 3: under Mike Leach at Washington State. Mike Leach notoriously only
Speaker 3: had and he was an interesting character in him himself.
Speaker 3: He had a piece of paper that goes a slip
Speaker 3: of paper with about twelve different plays and like twelve
Speaker 3: different formations, and you would just mix a match and
Speaker 3: you would rotate. And John Gruden's QB camp he did
Speaker 3: it with Sawyer Robertson, who went to Baylor and played
Speaker 3: under Mike Leach, or at least had one of Mike
Speaker 3: Leach's old play sheets, and he gifted one to coach Gruden,
Speaker 3: and he was talking about it and kind of breaking
Speaker 3: it down about just how small the play menu was,
Speaker 3: but how much you were able to do out of it,
Speaker 3: and because of the illusions that it does create for defenses.
Speaker 3: That's something that Gardner discussed a little bit. He didn't
Speaker 3: get into many details about it, and he's not going
Speaker 3: again into many details about it. But you mix what
Speaker 3: he said with what Buddha Baker said about how Michael
Speaker 3: Floor puts defenses in uncomfortable positions because he knows how
Speaker 3: to find the favorable matchups for the offense man that
Speaker 3: could be really dangerous, and you have the weapons to
Speaker 3: do it. Train McBride, Marvin Harrison, Junior, Michael Wilson, Jeremiah Love,
Speaker 3: Elijah Higgins, like, there's a lot of really good talented
Speaker 3: players on this Cardinals offense. It does a matter of
Speaker 3: figuring out the quarterback position, who's gonna be the one
Speaker 3: that's gonna be slinging the rock around?
Speaker 1: So many different options from one particular formation or motion,
Speaker 1: and then you do something just a little bit different
Speaker 1: to where it gives the illusion to the defense that, oh,
Speaker 1: this is a brand new play now it's really not.
Speaker 1: But in the moment of a game, when things are
Speaker 1: sped up a lot, you don't have a lot of
Speaker 1: time to think defensively, you have to react, and if
Speaker 1: you react wrong because oh this looks similar or I
Speaker 1: remember this, but it's tweaked a little bit, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, what was maybe a four or five
Speaker 1: yard play becomes ten, fifteen, twenty yards and it's a
Speaker 1: deep shot. And it could this goes for the run
Speaker 1: game as well. It's not just we're not we're focusing
Speaker 1: a lot on the passing attack, but I think the
Speaker 1: same can be said about total but the run game
Speaker 1: as well. When Okay, you line up and it looks
Speaker 1: like a pass, but you tweak it a little bit
Speaker 1: to where it's a handoff to a running back and
Speaker 1: the blocking scheme is adjusted to where you have that
Speaker 1: opening and you have an explosive play on the ground,
Speaker 1: and that goes back to it.
Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure I mentioned this on Cardinals Underground when
Speaker 3: I was filling in for Danny earlier this week. Maurice
Speaker 3: Jones Drew worked with a little bit with Michael Floyd
Speaker 3: during his time with the Rams, and he talked about
Speaker 3: just how much Michael Floor loves the rushing attack. We
Speaker 3: all know that there's a reason why the Cardinals drafted
Speaker 3: Jeremiah Love with the third overall pick. They brought in
Speaker 3: Tyler outgear, and then you rework James Connor's contract to
Speaker 3: make sure he stays in the building. And of course
Speaker 3: you still have another running back in the wings potentially
Speaker 3: in Trey Benson. You have a stacked loaded running back room.
Speaker 3: And something that Maurice Jones Drew was talking out MJD.
Speaker 3: He was saying, how how when he was in the Rams,
Speaker 3: Michae Laflor had so much fun getting creative with the
Speaker 3: running schemes. And you from a far and then from
Speaker 3: us up close, when we were watching the Rams play
Speaker 3: the Cardinals, you could see just how creative and how
Speaker 3: dynamic and how unstoppable that rushing attack was. With the
Speaker 3: two edded monster of Kyan Williams and Blake Korum, both
Speaker 3: guys who had really successful outings against the Arizona Cardinals
Speaker 3: throughout Lafor's tenure over there. So he knows the code
Speaker 3: to whatever it is to make sure that this rushing
Speaker 3: attack works. It's up to It's up to Mike now
Speaker 3: with Nathaniel Hackett, with Matt Schobb with Matt Merritt, who's
Speaker 3: the running backs coach, to try to crack it open
Speaker 3: and figure out how to make it more consistently.
Speaker 1: I like that description code. What is the Mike Lafleora
Speaker 1: offensive code? And can it be cracked? And hopefully it
Speaker 1: can't be cracked for the Arizona Cardinals in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: six and certainly beyond before we head on out of
Speaker 1: here on this Wednesday and allow Cody to go celebrate
Speaker 1: his what twenty fifth birthday? Twenty sixth birthday? Just go
Speaker 1: with it, Cody, Oh, comment, Okay, the preseason schedule. Way
Speaker 1: to say twenty five? Okay, I act like I'm so old.
Speaker 1: I'm only thirty four. Oh, there's the real age feel
Speaker 1: a day older than forty? Of course, don't we all
Speaker 1: the careful Zach. The preseason schedule has been finalized. We
Speaker 1: knew the opponents, those were announced during the schedule or release,
Speaker 1: and of course we know the first game, the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, August sixth,
Speaker 1: But we now have times and dates for the other
Speaker 1: three games, back to back Thursday games for the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1: The Hall of Fame game on Thursday. The following week, Thursday,
Speaker 1: August thirteenth, at the Raiders at five pm, come home
Speaker 1: to host the Cowboys on Saturday, August twenty second at
Speaker 1: seven pm, and then close the preseason with a road
Speaker 1: trip at Green Bay on Friday, August twenty eighth at five.
Speaker 1: By the way, all these times are Arizona times, and
Speaker 1: we believe because both head coaches have discussed this openly,
Speaker 1: both Matt and Mike Lafleur. But a joint practice or
Speaker 1: joint practices before the Cardinals play at the Packers.
Speaker 3: Who says the Cardinals don't have any primetime games.
Speaker 1: They've got at least one they got. They got the one.
Speaker 3: Look, it'll be it'll be a good preseason sleep for
Speaker 3: this team. I think you're only going to show so
Speaker 3: much because you are playing against two of those opponents
Speaker 3: in the regular season, and the Vegas Raiders and the
Speaker 3: Dallas Cowboys. Granted those take place a little bit later
Speaker 3: on in the year. Still, though you don't want to,
Speaker 3: the teams will use any they'll turn over every stone
Speaker 3: out there. They will go back and they will watch
Speaker 3: the tape of the preseason to see if the Cardinals
Speaker 3: tried showing anything, so I don't think that they're going
Speaker 3: to show a ton, but you want to get as
Speaker 3: much reps as you can for a lot of those
Speaker 3: depth pieces, the backup offensive tackles, to see who you
Speaker 3: could trust sliding in behind Harris Johnston Junior or potentially
Speaker 3: competing with Elijah Wilkinson. You're gonna look at the guard
Speaker 3: spot between Chase Besontis, Isaiah Adams, Matt Pryor and all
Speaker 3: the different players out there. You're gonna see what the
Speaker 3: other returners can do because special teams will be a
Speaker 3: major factor in these decisions. And you trim it down
Speaker 3: to fifty three. So the four preseason games. It's a deep,
Speaker 3: heavy preseason schedule, but at least now we know.
Speaker 1: When, where, and who we're gonna be playing against. The
Speaker 1: games against the Raiders and Cowboys because of what you
Speaker 1: said playing them in the regular season. What do you
Speaker 1: do if you're Mike Laflor. Do you just operate because
Speaker 1: you need the work and you want to see with
Speaker 1: what you've created on paper works on the field even
Speaker 1: though it's the preseason, or do you hold back because
Speaker 1: you're gonna play these teams in the regular season, or
Speaker 1: the other line of thinking is oh, we're gonna do
Speaker 1: what we do, and the feeling on the other side is, oh, well,
Speaker 1: they'll change something up and then you don't change it up.
Speaker 1: And that's that cat and mouse game. Play game of
Speaker 1: chest and try to get in each other's heads as
Speaker 1: far as what you're doing offensively or defensively. But be
Speaker 1: fascinated to hear what Michae Laflora potentially has planned. Of
Speaker 1: course we won't know that until we get to August,
Speaker 1: because he doesn't plan beyond today.
Speaker 3: And I've learned when I asked Hi about the schedule
Speaker 3: that he does not care.
Speaker 1: Just his line of thinking when it comes to these
Speaker 1: preseason games. Because two games against teams you play in
Speaker 1: the regular season, the Packers game, that final one. The
Speaker 1: joint practice or practices, I don't know if there's one
Speaker 1: or two, those will be real tests. Those are what
Speaker 1: the coaches really like is because you can manufacture, you
Speaker 1: can set up, you can experiments, and you can kind
Speaker 1: of talk to the other side and say we need
Speaker 1: help with this look, or give us this look, and
Speaker 1: we will try to beat it, and it goes back
Speaker 1: and forth. You're trying to help each other out in
Speaker 1: those joint practices.
Speaker 3: Goes to iron sharpens iron, like you said earlier, goes
Speaker 3: to helping a brother out. Literally is you're literally helping
Speaker 3: a brother out. So that is going to be a fact,
Speaker 3: and it's also going to be just leaving a last
Speaker 3: good impression right before the cut deadline is going to
Speaker 3: take place before week one?
Speaker 1: Did you because I didn't, did you happen to get
Speaker 1: anything for Cody? So then I can just go in
Speaker 1: with you and then we can both present it to him.
Speaker 3: We just dedicated an entire good I think that's great time.
Speaker 1: When Cody grew up.
Speaker 3: We hear the act that that broke him in, and
Speaker 3: somebody thinks about what is the perfect gift.
Speaker 1: I would have said.
Speaker 3: To be featured on Cardinals cover two, our company of course,
Speaker 3: getting the chance to spend just a small part.
Speaker 1: Of his day.
Speaker 3: Why didn't you give us a gift his presence? I mean,
Speaker 3: that's a pretty good gift.
Speaker 1: And he's putting this together to make us look good.
Speaker 1: We'll take it. So we have to be nice to Cuddy.
Speaker 1: We were very nice to Code, very very dedicated the
Speaker 1: whole show.
Speaker 3: I said, it's Cody's Cardinals cover too, Cody, enjoy your birthday.
Speaker 1: Thanks, all right, we'll do. I hope you got big plans.
Speaker 1: I know Zach always has big plan. Is maybe the
Speaker 1: two plans will intersect with one another that we can't
Speaker 1: share on the record. Hey, there's open portion and there's
Speaker 1: closed portionhip and now we're in the Cody, enjoy your
Speaker 1: birthday special. Thanks as always to our executive producer Jim
Speaker 1: Mama Hundre, our producer Cody Fincher. For Zach Gershman, I'm
Speaker 1: Craig Real Lou. We'll talk to you next time here
Speaker 1: on Cardinals to cover two