"Ignore the noise" is a constant mantra around the National Football League, as coaches implore it and players try to live by it.
And boy, there has been enough noise this past offseason to drown out a Boeing 747, as the toxicity of social media and talk radio heaped words of doom upon the Arizona Cardinals and especially quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
The Cardinals' decision-makers obviously ignored it when the masses said they were crazy for even considering a raise for Brissett, mainly because the Cardinals were 1-11 with him as the starter in 2025 as if all the team’s issues were on his shoulders.
HE was 1-11, the critics said as if this was golf or tennis and not the ultimate team sport where so many things have to go right to win a game.
“Do
you job” is another popular mantra and the reality is that has to happen for any quarterback to lead his team to victory.
The players who were with Brissett last year all ignored the noise, supported him throughout the offseason despite his absence and then showed their faith by electing him one of two offensive captains along with center Hjalte Froholdt. On defense, it’s safety Budda Baker and inside linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. with newcomer Casey Kreiter, the long snapper, on special teams.
Players and coaches know what goes on beyond closed doors. The public does not. Isn’t it odd that the incessant noise over the last seven seasons wailed about Kyler Murray’s lack of leadership, yet Brissett’s presence is dismissed. All because of that 1-11 record. It’s actually rather shallow.
But now, we’ll begin finding out what this season has in store, especially with the gauntlet the Cardinals will face in the first 11 weeks.
Call me crazy, but somehow I believe the Cardinals WILL shock the football world. How many wins that means, no one really knows. However, this team and especially the offense led by their captain will not be an easy out for opponents. That might just shut down the incessant chatter about when rookie Carson Beck will get the chance to play, something that many believe is a fait accompli.
Of Brissett being voted a captain, head coach Mike LaFleur said earlier this week, “That wasn’t shocking to me, just in terms of his interaction with not just the offense, but this whole team. The more and more I’m around him, the more and more I get it in terms of the person. Always knew it from afar, but just having that first, however long it’s been, seven weeks, of being with him has been great.”
As for the group of captains, LaFleur said, “I can’t think of five better people to look up to, in terms of guys that are just going to keep it real with each other, hold people to standards, communicate with me. I don’t need to know everything that’s going on in the locker room. I just need to know the stuff that’s pertinent.”
Froholdt called Brissett’s assimilation to the new offense “effortless,” despite not doing anything on the field until the start of training camp.
“He's painting a picture in that huddle and he's doing a great job at it,” Froholdt said. “He did a great job coming in and just getting after it. And it's good to see him getting that really good relationship with all the receivers, having proper time to practice with them before heading into the season. Kind of got tossed into the fire a little bit last year, so he's been a really good leader in that room and that huddle for us. It's good to have Jacoby back and he's balling out.”
Quarterbacks coach Matt Schaub played 17 seasons in the NFL, so he has just a tad of insight into quarterback play and leadership. Brissett has impressed him in a short period of time.
He said, “A lot of it is the guys that are in the huddle that have been here especially last year obviously they know him, they know his style, they know how they relate to him. There's that bond that you went through a lot of stuff together. But he's more vocal as a leader than at least I anticipated, just knowing him throughout his career from afar and watching him. But he takes ownership in his responsibility, but also in putting the guys in the huddle in the right position to make plays and so that's been fun to watch since he's fully been back with us.”
Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. had an intriguing perspective when asked about Brissett’s leadership style.
“He's really that big brother figure for everybody in the room that we can all go to about anything on or off the field,” Harrison said. “He always has that communication with receivers, from the first guy to the last guy to O-lineman, first guy to last guy and anybody can go talk to him about anything and have a relationship with him.”
What’s most important is that players don’t elect captains just because they’re good guys. They cast that ballot because of confidence in their play, believing they can help them win.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett recalled in the offseason being with Brissett at the Senior Bowl in 2016 with some other top quarterbacks, the year he was selected in the third round of the draft by the New England Patriots. Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz were also at that Senior Bowl.
“Everybody talks about the quarterback and that ‘it’ factor, and you felt their presence, their hunger for knowledge even all the way back then,” Hackett said Thursday. “Just the fact that he's done what he's done, it's just a tribute to him and all the work that he's put in and to be able to be in this league this long and have this amazing opportunity.
What Hackett sees now is a guy who’s “a vet and you feel it. You see it, how he sees things, how he talks about the different fronts, the different coverages, everything. He's seen so much. He's been in a lot of systems, so you can't really surprise him with a new play or anything like that. But it's just his command, his trust in his eyes, his understanding of his feet and how those all connect.
“He's been great to work with. Just his demeanor, his control, the huddle, just everything. Voted the captain, which is so great. So it's been really fun to work with him.”
Discussing the positive vibes from his teammates during the offseason, Brissett noted that in the conversations he had with them that “the support from them and that fuel was pretty much all I really needed. What’s been the one consistent thing (in my career) is I always wanted to make sure I was a good teammate and had the respect and appreciation from them.”
As for being voted a captain, he said, “That’s the ultimate goal. You can ask any player in the locker room; you want that C on your chest because you know how much it means to the people around if they were captains. It’s voted on by the players. It’s not fan favorites or who’s the highest paid.”
Finally, he was introspective after being asked if he has more ownership as a leader knowing he is the starter and if that makes him approach it or act differently.
Simply stated, he said, “no” and then concluded, “I try not to because then that that means who I was before wasn't genuine. I'm not trying to say, ‘Oh, I'm the starter so I can curse you out and stuff like that.’ That's just not me. I think in the times when you don't get what you want, that's when you need to really show who you are as a man and as a player.
“And then when you do get pushed into the light or whatever the thing may be, it only reassures the guys around you that you are who you were when you didn't have it. So I don't carry any extra weight as far as being a leader or anything like that. I go out there and just be me.”
Now, being “me” has provided Jacoby Brissett the opportunity to change the narrative and, yes, drown out the noise.
It just might be a good idea not to bet against him.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Can the QB Jacoby Brissett help his Cardinals shock the football world?
