Cardinals’ Mike LaFleur compared Trey McBride to Luka Doncic. Let him explain

The Arizona Cardinals continue to get national love after their upset win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, and the next stop on their press tour was a Mike LaFleur appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN.

The first-year head coach joined the exuberant McAfee to talk about the Week 1 win, Jacoby Brissett and Trey McBride, his family and his overall mindset of building a winning culture in Arizona.

Here are some highlights from the appearance:

Mike LaFleur compared Trey McBride to Luka Doncic

Brissett may be the head of the operation on offense, but Arizona’s tight end is its superstar. McAfee referred to McBride as a “99 (Madden rating) tight end” before co-host A.J. Hawk asked LaFleur about what makes him special and what he means to the offense.

LaFleur’s response: “How long do ya got?”

During his subsequent monologue about McBride’s skill set, LaFleur threw in an interesting comment comparing the star tight end to all-world point guard Luka Doncic.

“I try to equate it to like Luka, where he plays at his pace,” LaFleur said. “He’s got that savviness to separate, then obviously the finishing skills to make the play.”

It’s quite the interesting cross-sport comparison, but an insightful way of understanding just how highly LaFleur thinks of McBride’s playmaking ability.

Jacoby Brissett earns his flowers

The Cardinals quarterback balled out in the 2026 opener after a long offseason of contract dispute drama, something McAfee acknowledged in his buildup to his question to LaFleur about Brissett’s performance. Brissett finished with the highest PFF grade among quarterbacks in Week 1.

LaFleur heaped plenty of praise on Brissett, noting how he’s always respected him from afar, but now that he finally has the chance to coach him, he values what he brings on a daily basis even more.

“Every time you (play him), you know you’re going to get good quality quarterback play… When the ball was snapped, it was going to be a lot of similar concepts that he’s ran, so it’s been awesome,” LaFleur said. “The way he approached it — I thought he was excellent on game day — just with his demeanor, taking it one play at a time.”

When the drama regarding Brissett’s contract was unfolding, many were frustrated trying to figure out why a journeyman quarterback was holding the team to ransom. The interview helped illustrate why. As for a team trying to improve like the Cardinals, it’s valuable to have a veteran presence to lead rather than throwing a young quarterback into the fire with so many other pieces needing to be developed.

“He looks smooth out there,” McAfee said. “I wanted him to be the MVP when he was the starting quarterback for the Colts, then he got injured.”

“The hardest part about playing quarterback is a young guy coming in and learning the speed of the game. … Well he’s done that, and so all it was really from our perspective was getting on the same page of what he likes, what our language is, how we work our cadences, what our operation means to us,” LaFleur added.

Establishing life, culture in Arizona

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from LaFleur’s appearance was just how devoted he is to building in Arizona. After recent stops as a coordinator in California with the Rams and 49ers and New York with the Jets, LaFleur emphasized just how much it means to he and his family to make The Grand Canyon State his new home.

“I’ve always loved this place,” LaFleur said. “For whatever reason, I loved playing here. I was obviously in the division for seven years before. … I love this city, I’ve loved living here. They’ve been awesome to my family and myself. I love our ownership. I love how committed everybody is. And then most importantly, I love these players.”

McAfee and Co. were very pleased with that answer: “The message you just delivered to Cardinals fans right there is scratching every single itch that you could potentially have as a football fan. I’m happy that you’re their guy, because we love that city, as well.”

McAfee’s endorsement may not mean much depending on the person, but the fact that LaFleur is even on one of ESPN’s most popular shows after Week 1 when the Cardinals went 3-14 last season could be a good sign of things to come.

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