Mike LaFleur's Unfiltered Message to Cardinals After Raiders Win Has Fans Fired Up

Mike LaFleur was fired up after the Arizona Cardinals' preseason win — but not satisfied.

Aug 13, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur watches from the sidelines against the Las Vegas Raiders in the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ARIZONA — It's a victory Friday for the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals defeated the Las Vegas Raiders in 27-14 fashion to snag their first win of the preseason. Now, the Cardinals head back to Tempe to recover and reload for their final two preseason games.

Wins and losses don't count during this time, though fans are watching for plenty of other things to be excited about — which includes their new head coach.

Thus far, LaFleur has gotten the seal of approval from the Red Sea. His offense looks far more advanced than previous versions of the Cardinals while his transparency during press conferences has already eclipsed the prior regime.

LaFleur earned some more goodwill from the Cardinals' fan base after his post-game speech in Las Vegas:

Mike LaFleur's Fired Up, and So Are Cardinals Fans

"I don't care if it's ping pong, uno, football, whatever f---- window we're in, we're always going out there to f---- win," said LaFleur in a video posted by the team.

"Give it up for yourself right there. I'll say this though: we're right back to work. Point-blank period. Camp is not over. This is just camp Tempe. We have a lot of work to do before we're peaking on Sept. 13, so don't get in your head just because we're out of Wigwam.

"We're right back to work and the only way that you get better at football is to practice football, and we got to do it the right f---- way. We're going to have a great block when we get back there."

Full video:

First W of the preseason is now behind us and we've got more football ahead of us. Happy Friday, Bird Gang 🙌 pic.twitter.com/U2nAJF9uTZ

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 14, 2026

Fans have been excited about the direction LaFleur can take the Cardinals, and the latest bit of fire displayed shows a level of excitement that many don't believe prior head coach Jonathan Gannon showed, at least publicly.

LaFleur's been fairly insistent the Cardinals have a long way to go despite showing obvious signs of excellence during training camp and preseason. Not that any coach would publicly disagree with LaFleur's sentiments, but he clearly means it.

He won't allow either his staff or team to ease off of the gas after a couple of strong performances.

That's something Cardinals fans want to hear. It's been years since their last division title (2015) and playoff appearance (2021), and the drought in the desert has spanned far too long.

Whether LaFleur can summon the rains remains to be seen, though it's hard not to be excited after what we've witnessed thus far.