TEMPE — It’s been a little more than two months since the Mike LaFleur era officially began in Arizona.
And although there’s been plenty of prep leading up to the beginning of the offseason program, Tuesday’s strength and conditioning work felt more like the true kickoff to LaFleur’s Cardinals tenure.
An otherwise small offseason to-do list item, it’s much more about setting the tone and getting a good idea of what LaFleur and his newly formed coaching staff demand from their players.
“Having our first team meeting with him today, how he wants things, what he expects out of us, he’s very clear on that. There’s no confusion whatsoever,” pass rusher Zaven Collins said. “It’s really nice. You can tell how he wants his ship ran and it’s a really good starting point to see how it’s all going to go.
“He’s clear and correct and very to the point on how he wants things done and what he expects from us when we’re in the building. What he allows, what he doesn’t allow, stuff like that. You can kind of tell he’s a no-BS guy. He’s going to tell you what he wants, what he thinks and just be up front.”
Zaven Collins’ early impressions of new Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/f9WUIHerD4
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) April 7, 2026
According to Collins, everyone was present for the voluntary work on Tuesday. It’s a small note, but a good sign of the early buy-in.
Aside from setting the standard, the beginning of Phase 1 focused more on the little things from an operation standpoint.
Teams have to start somewhere before diving into full-blown installs later on this offseason.
And it should come as no surprise the emphasis — at least from an offensive perspective — started with the basics of breaking the huddle.
If the Cardinals are hoping to be “clean and sharp” like LaFleur mentioned during his introductory press conference, it starts pre-snap.
“It’s interesting having a head coach in the offensive meeting room,” offensive lineman Hjalte Froholdt said. “I haven’t had that for a while, but a lot of enthusiasm around there about the scheme, what we got to set up and stuff like that. But truly just the basics today. Simple stuff … but that’s how you got to start. So, it’s good.”