‘I will forever be indebted to Jacoby’ Brissett, Michael Wilson says

TEMPE — Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson is expecting a “seamless” transition to quarterback Gardner Minshew, as already evidenced by Sunday’s win in Dallas.

But the fourth-year wideout acknowledged the impact that exiting quarterback Jacoby Brissett — who reportedly will be traded to Baltimore — made on his career.

“I’m humble enough to admit that without Jacoby, that there’s no way that my career would have ascended,” Wilson said on Wednesday. “Quarterback and receiver success, they’re interconnected.”

Wilson was not off to a great start last season, admitting after the fact that he worried about his future in the NFL. Through five games, he had a measly eight catches for 52 yards.

At that point, Brissett took over as the starter for Kyler Murray, and Wilson started to get more action. Over his last eight games of the season, Wilson caught 56 passes for 775 yards and surpassed the coveted 1,000-yard threshold for the first time. He signed a three-year contract extension, establishing himself as a building block moving forward.

This was not solely Brissett’s doing, and Wilson will continue to be counted on to improve and produce without the former. But the pair clearly had chemistry.

Brissett’s numbers last season for the Cardinals did not translate to victories for reasons both of his responsibility and not, and his dip in production this season led to a necessary change.

Wilson was open about what it meant to work with Brissett and build that relationship when his career was not at its most stable.

“For him to believe in me both last year and this year and give me a plethora of opportunities to showcase my talents, regardless of what happens from here on out, I will forever be indebted to Jacoby,” Wilson said. “He will 100% be the catalyst quarterback that helped me reach my heights and give me opportunities to continue to ascend.”

Beyond Wilson’s increased production, the partnership also gave the receiver a blueprint of handling a quarterback change during the season and what it takes to get on the same page.

Wilson and Minshew worked together a lot over the summer, as Brissett was negotiating a new contract and missed OTAs.

“I think just the communication throughout the week, on game day and just trying to find ways to be on the same page,” Wilson said is key. “I think that’s what running routes after practice together, sending clips of this is how I see this route being run and just trying to communicate as much as possible. So that way, when you go out on game day, it’s like we’ve repped this so many times, we can’t really be wrong.”

As the Cardinals turn the page, if Brissett’s presence pushed Wilson to become the franchise’s WR1 for the foreseeable future, that is a strong parting gift.

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