In Year 11, a look at how the Cardinals' Jacoby Brissett views his world

In his 10 NFL seasons, Jacoby Brissett has started three season openers. On two other occasions, he was inserted as the starter by Week 2. So, in some sense, he'll be no stranger to the stage on Sunday, Sept. 13, when he takes the first snap of a new Arizona Cardinals season.

Thing is, none of those previous occasions have been remotely normal.

With the 2016 Patriots, Brissett started in Week 2 after Tom Brady was suspended due to "Deflategate."

A year later, he was traded to the Colts in early September after a season-ending injury to Andrew Luck , and started just 15 days later. In 2019, he started a career-high 15 games thanks to Luck's shocking preseason retirement. Then came the 2022 Browns, when Brissett became the Week 1 starter only after Deshaun Watson 's August suspension for sexual misconduct.

Two years later, Brissett was back in New England , starting temporarily before rookie Drake Maye earned his job.

That is quite the list. Using only those seasons, you could tell a fairly complete history of the NFL's past decade's worth of off-field turmoil. For most players, it's a cliché, but Brissett has truly seen it all.

This summer, then, has offered a reprieve. A minor contract squabble, solved before the end of July? That's small potatoes in his world.

"I definitely feel a lot more comfortable now than I did the other times that I was the Week 1 starter," Brissett said.

Brissett has spent the past six weeks studying LaFleur's offense and practicing in it every day. And he has a year's worth of rapport with Trey McBride , Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson — all of whom he regularly stays with after practice, getting in extra reps.

That should bring tangible benefits on Sundays. Brissett can play faster now, with less thinking. Envision a back-shoulder pass placed exactly where the receiver needs it, or a layered pass over the middle, because he knows how each concept is designed to attack each coverage.

Plus, this is an offense that — in theory — meshes with Brissett's skill set.

When asked about that fit, LaFleur and Brissett were both coy, with the quarterback jokingly asking a reporter, "You work for the Chargers?"

"When we're under center in play action, lot of times, the quarterback has to turn his back to the defense," Harrison said. "Some quarterbacks don't like to do that. I think that's one of (Brissett's) strong suits, him being able to do that."

When lined up under center last season, Brissett averaged 7.4 yards per attempt, the league average among qualified quarterbacks. From the shotgun, that dropped to 6.8 yards per attempt, ranking 21st among 32 quarterbacks.

And across the NFL, no team attempted more passes from under center in 2025 than the Los Angeles Rams , where LaFleur was the offensive coordinator.

"If you're just in the gun, you keep your eyes on the defense the whole time, you get to see the rotations," Harrison said. "But if the quarterback turns his back to the defense, you don't know where the safeties are gonna be. Everybody in the league does a good job disguising at this point."

Diagnosing those disguises without being able to watch them in action requires a certain mental acuity. And that, Harrison believes, is one of Brissett's greatest strengths.

"Being able to turn your back to the defense and still process things at a quick pace, I think that's very important under Coach LaFleur," Harrison said.

In the big picture, it's hard to know how much any of this will matter for the Cardinals. Making a playoff push this season would require a miracle, and the organization will likely look to acquire its quarterback of the future this offseason.

But Brissett can help establish stability under a new regime, creating foundations that last until long after he's gone.

And, on a personal level, there's a player entering his 11th season with his sixth team, still trying to prove that he can lead a winning team. The NFL doesn't allow much space for emotion or reflection, but as a new season arrives, Brissett took a moment for both.

"If the ultimate thing doesn't happen for me, I can honestly say I've accomplished a lot of goals that I didn't think were even possible to set for myself that I'm still chasing," Brissett said. "When I look back, I'm going into Year 11, I didn't think I was making it past two, to be honest with you.