Carson Palmer used to say he liked to play in the preseason, because he needed to be hit. A quarterback was going to be hit, he posited, and he needed to start getting his body used to it.
Jacoby Brissett likes that idea. "For sure," the 2026 Cardinals QB starter said.
Like the rest of the starters, Brissett found out Tuesday he will be playing in Thursday's [preseason game against the Raiders](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-to-play-starters-against-raiders-in-second-preseason-game). He looks forward to getting hit, but mostly getting a chance to work with a new coach and a new system in an actual game.
When training camp started, Brissett wasn't even doing much as he waited for a new contract. He was behind, having missed all offseason.
Now, "I'm catching up," Brissett said. "I feel like I have made leaps and bounds."
The Cardinals are still a month away from the first game of the season. In the last open practice on Sunday, the offense struggled, with coach Mike LaFleur acknowledging that the operation was good but the Cardinals just missed passes down the field.
"That happens," LaFleur said. "Steph Curry doesn't go 10-for-10 every day. I wouldn't say (I was) pleased but I wouldn't necessarily say not pleased."
That's what camp is for. Brissett is still learning daily. LaFleur's process has Brissett making the same playcall three to four times a day when meetings and walkthroughs are included.
The QB is going to figure out the offense on his own. Now, absorbing a hit? Brissett needs games for that.
\-- Training camp is not over. The rest of the preseason, albeit back in Tempe for a bit, and then Green Bay before wrapping in Tempe, is still an "extension" of the work, LaFleur said. The Cardinals won't even use scout team looks until Sept. 7, the Monday before the opener. Until then, LaFleur said, he wants good versus good.
There will also be an acknowledgment of the heat. The Cardinals will now have some morning practices, at least until the return from Green Bay.
\-- LaFleur reiterated that his message about sidelined linebacker Josh Sweat isn't different than what [GM Monti Ossenfort said the day before](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/monti-ossenfort-leans-into-jacoby-brissett-as-cardinals-qb) -- that Sweat is in a good spot.
LaFleur did emphasize that Sweat rehabbing his knee on the PUP list is a "collective" decision, one that Sweat and the team have made not only with those inside the organization but people Sweat has on the outside.
"It's good to have other people not affiliated with the Arizona Cardinals to give their opinion," LaFleur said. "I respect that."