EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTEMPE, Ariz. -- Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur says he does not plan on making changes to any of the team's coaching duties after a 1-4 start.LaFleur said Monday, in the wake of a 45-21 loss to the Detroit Lions, that he will not replace himself as the offensive playcaller or defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, who calls the defensive plays."I mean, obviously my job is to see the issues and handle the issues and have the tough conversations," LaFleur said. "So, if I felt like changes were needed for us to help us win this week, then I'm going to do that. It's my responsibility, but I don't think that gives us the best chance to win this week."I think the best thing to do right now is reevaluate what we've done, what we've done well, because there are some bright spots, but there's also a lot of spots that we got to improve on. And I told the defense when I talked to the defense today where our changes are going to be made; again, I'll keep that in-house, and I'm fired up to see it happen."One potential change this week could be in how the Cardinals structure their active roster on game day Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.LaFleur said Arizona will have a discussion Tuesday to talk about putting rookie quarterback Carson Beck on the active roster instead of him being the inactive emergency quarterback. The Cardinals had not had those discussions yet this season, LaFleur said, but added that they would consider it "if we think that's what's best."LaFleur said he had "some tough conversations" with all three phases Monday about where he thinks they can improve. He singled out the offense and defense for needing to find ways to improve.LaFleur said he watched film of the offense first, then the defense, followed by special teams, and then "just started having conversations" centered around one foundational question: "How do we not allow this to happen ever again?"Answering that has proved to be easier said than done for the Cardinals, whose defense has allowed more than 30 points in each of the past four games, all losses.LaFleur expressed confidence in his defensive players Monday, saying he has the "right guys on defense to play better" because he has seen glimpses of it at times in the first five weeks. Arizona has seven sacks in its past two games, its best two-game stretch since Weeks 12 and 13 of the 2024 season, when they had 10 in two games.The issue, LaFleur said, is that he hasn't seen the defensive production consistently."I told them that today, but we got to help them with that, whether that's providing the clarity, whether it's making it easier, what have you," LaFleur said. "And we got to dive into that hard over these next two days."And same thing on offense. When it's going good, it's going good, or it's a three-and-out machine, and there's really nowhere in between right now for us. So, we got to figure out how to do all the good stuff better and then obviously clean up those three-and-outs."The past two weeks, the Cardinals have jumped out to good starts, scoring touchdowns on their first two drives in Week 4 against the New York Giants and a touchdown on their first drive against the Lions before slowing down.LaFleur didn't have a full explanation Monday for why that has happened two weeks in a row, although he said there are "some reasons why we think that's happening.""That's the million-dollar question that we're trying to figure out right now," he said.What those reasons are, LaFleur said, will be kept "a little bit in-house," but added that they'll be addressed.
