Mike LaFleur Delivers Preseason News Cardinals Fans Have Been Waiting For

The Arizona Cardinals will see the big boys play on Thursday.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur speaks to the press during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on July 26, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

GLENDALE — Last week, the Arizona Cardinals sat roughly 35 players who were considered starters or borderline guys.

This week, it's a different story.

The Cardinals will play their starters in Las Vegas, according to LaFleur.

"They're going to play. So we'll have our guys out there. How much? It's not going to be much. Could be one drive, max of two [drives] for those main guys. But yeah, they'll be playing, and they know that," LaFleur said ahead of the Raiders game.

Arizona's biggest veteran names that featured last week were all of Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, BJ Ojulari and Andrew Billings.

This week, the Cardinals are set to see most of their starting lineup on the field for at least a drive or two — which will see players such as Jacoby Brissett, Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride, Jeremiyah Love and Budda Baker among others who weren't dressed for the Hall of Fame Game.

The Raiders are expected to play their starters this preseason, though we'll also get our first look of No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza in a Las Vegas uniform on Thursday night.

"From just an actual game plan standpoint, we're not doing any of that. Like I haven't watched the snap of Vegas from last year," LaFleur said. "It's a new defensive coordinator. He was on the staff. Don't know if he's going to do the exact same or complete opposite. Have no idea."

After a big game last week, the Cardinals again will be in the national spotlight.

Today's practice puts a bow on training camp for the Cardinals, and LaFleur says the team had a successful outing in 2026:

"Absolutely. I think first and foremost, like we talked about, the weather and just keep these guys out of the heat," said LaFleur.

"We got to go battle it when we get back to Tempe, we'll be smart about that, obviously, but we are going to have to be out there at some point for obvious reasons. That was first and foremost, and like I said, I mean, we took it one day at a time, one block at a time, and I thought we there was improvement, but still a long way to go."

The Cardinals face the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium at 5:00 PM on Thursday night.

Arizona will have practiced 15 times before gathering their belongings and heading back to Tempe to finish out the preseason. The Cardinals, after this week, have preseason battles against the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers before the start of the regular season.