Jacoby Brissett is in Glendale at the start of Arizona Cardinals’ training camp. But this saga is not over.
On each of the first two days of camp, Brissett took part in individual drills, firing passes to backup receivers, without defenders present. But on both days, it was Gardner Minshew who worked with the starters in those drills, as Brissett continues to seek a pay raise that would see him earn a salary closer to the league’s other veteran starting quarterbacks.
And, perhaps more importantly, when the Cardinals moved to 11-on-11 drills, Brissett stood on the sidelines with teammates, not participating in any capacity. Minshew took every snap with the first-team offense, while Carson Beck and Kedon Slovis rotated in with the second team.
It
is not clear whether Brissett’s limited participation has been his own choice or the decision of Cardinals’ head coach Mike LaFleur. When asked how much time Brissett needs to be fully integrated with the offense, LaFleur said only that the Cardinals would “re-assess that day-by-day.”
Brissett, though, is back in “100%” of offensive meetings, LaFleur said. He first returned to the Cardinals’ building during mandatory minicamp in June after missing all of voluntary organized team activities.
LaFleur has repeatedly played down the impact of the meetings — and practices — that Brissett has missed, pointing to his status as an 11-year veteran with 65 career starts. Ultimately, though, full-speed reps are a crucial element of integrating into a new offensive system for any player.
“I want all of our players to get theirs and ultimately all of our players to be in the building and being able to practice, being able to get better,” safety Budda Baker said this week. "Because you only get better by practicing.”
And, on Friday, July 24, LaFleur did admit that Brissett is still catching up on some details of the Cardinals’ new offense, before offering a caveat to that statement.
“I think we're still all a little bit in the learning phase,” LaFleur said. “… There's no doubt these first few blocks are still an install learning phase. And then whenever that time is right, that's when we'll start to say, 'okay, hey, here's how we're gonna hammer down, here's what it's gonna look like come that first week.”
Brissett, who has not spoken with reporters since January, was not present in the Cardinals’ locker room on Friday, July 24 — the first day on which it was open to media.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals' bizarre Jacoby Brissett saga continues as camp begins
