Mike LaFleur wants his Arizona Cardinals receivers treating man coverage like an invitation. With Trey McBride drawing double teams and Marvin Harrison Jr. now playing in Houston, the head coach needs his wideouts winning one-on-one, and he wants them craving it.
“You dream of man coverage. You can’t wait for man coverage,” LaFleur told the team’s website this week. “It’s me versus you, I don’t care who you are or what the name is on the back of your jersey, I am going to beat you. I know we have guys that have that mindset. Now we have to go do it.”
Trey McBride expects the extra attention
The tight end has 42 catches on 56 targets for 308 yards and three touchdowns through five games, and his 72.0 overall grade ranks 15th among 32 tight ends at PFF. “I’ve got to give Jacoby a reason to throw me the ball. I expect them to double me,” McBride said. Jacoby Brissett sometimes has to wave him off. “Sometimes, he has to tell me, ‘Hey, there are two guys on you. I’m not going to do that.'”
That puts the burden on the outside. Michael Wilson has 29 catches on 51 targets for 288 yards, and neither he nor McBride is averaging six yards per target. We already made the case for moving Wilson outside, and the rest of the room has to settle who steps up now. The Giants played man 56 percent of the time in Week 4, and the Lions used it 51 percent of the time in Week 5, which should mean chances for Kendrick Bourne and Jalen Brooks.
Brooks got his first real look against Detroit. He played 39 snaps against the Lions after logging 13 in the first four games, and he was targeted seven times with two catches. The players learned of the Harrison trade early Saturday morning, which gave Brooks time to brace for it. “They’ve got total faith in me,” he said.
The trip from the Valley to Inglewood sends LaFleur back to SoFi Stadium, where he worked as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. Los Angeles is 2-3 after a 37-34 overtime loss to Buffalo, and Brissett, whose job could ride on Sunday, needs those throws to land. If the Rams put McBride in a bracket, LaFleur gets the matchups he says his receivers should be dreaming about, and Brooks, Bourne and Wilson have to cash them in.
More on the Arizona Cardinals
- Jacoby Brissett Hints Reggie Virgil Has More to Show in the Cardinals’ Post-Harrison Offense
- Cardinals Fans Are Aiming Their Billboards at the Right Man, and It Isn’t Mike LaFleur
- Will Carson Beck Replace Jacoby Brissett? Five Picks, Cardinals’ Draft Plans Point That Way
- Kyler Murray’s Unbeaten Vikings Give the Cardinals a $36 Million Reason to Wince
