Being unsure about their opponent’s starting quarterback for much of the week heaps “a little bit more on our players’ plate,” Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur finds.
Still, LaFleur feels the Packers are up to the challenge whether it’s Kyler Murray or Jacoby Brissett leading the host Arizona Cardinals when the teams face off in Glendale on Sunday.
“That’s just the situation,” LaFleur said, “and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
NFC North-leading Green Bay (3-1-1) begins a two-game road trip against a Cardinals team that’s banged up from injuries and trying to recover from a series of narrow defeats.
Arizona (2-4) has lost four straight games, falling by a combined nine points. The most recent loss was also the most “lopsided” over that span as the host Indianapolis Colts outscored the Cardinals 14-3 in the fourth quarter to win 31-27 last Sunday.
Murray (foot) missed a game for the first time since 2023. On Wednesday, coach Jonathan Gannon merely responded, “Yes,” to a question asking about Murray’s injury progression.
“Make sure that he’s healthy enough to play,” Gannon said. “We’ll progress him along here this week and see where he’s at.”
Brissett was 27 of 44 through the air for 320 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in a game in which he had to build a rapport with many targets. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (concussion protocol) left the game in the second quarter.
Tight end Travis Vokolek, who played a larger role on special teams, suffered a season-ending neck injury during a first-quarter kickoff.
Defensive lineman Darius Robinson, who missed the past two games with a chest injury, returned to practice for Arizona this week.
Gannon said he and his staff aren’t aiming to make drastic changes during the skid.
“If you want to turn it around with a lot of football left,” he said, “you got to find solutions and you got to play better.”
The Packers are seeking their first road victory. They stumbled in the fourth quarter of a 13-10 loss at Cleveland in Week 3 and tied the host Dallas Cowboys in overtime the following week.
Running back Josh Jacobs said he is “kind of getting through” the illness he played through while scoring two touchdowns in last week’s 27-18 win against Cincinnati.
Linebacker Lukas Van Ness didn’t practice Wednesday after sustaining a foot injury against the Bengals.
“We haven’t won on the road either, so we’ve got to do a good job of preparing and getting ready to play our best ball,” LaFleur said. “I don’t think we’ve played a complete game up to date. We’ve had moments in each phase that have been really good, but to do it collectively for four quarters, I don’t think we’ve really done that. And we’re going to need to do that against a really strong football team.”
Packers quarterback Jordan Love has thrown for a touchdown in each game this season but has been intercepted in two of the past three.
Green Bay enters with a two-game winning streak in the series against Arizona and a 46-24-4 edge in the overall series. The Packers have won nine of 12 since the Cardinals franchise relocated west from St. Louis after the 1987 season.
The Packers have won 11 straight against NFC West competition.
–Field Level Media
