The Arizona Cardinals, following their latest ugly loss to the Detroit Lions, are now 1-4, in a season they had hoped to begin their turnaround right away.

With fans calling for major alterations to Arizona’s roster, staff or approach, the Cardinals did make one change — sending WR Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Houston Texans in a trade. That was not exactly the change for which many might have hoped.

Despite a clear indication that the current process has not been sufficient to rack up more than one lone victory, the Cardinals aren’t making any sort of changes to their playcalling setup, head coach Mike LaFleur told the media on Monday afternoon.

Cardinals not making playcalling changes

The Cardinals’ defense, in particular, has been an issue all season. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis turned in his fourth consecutive performance of 30-plus points allowed on Sunday, which has been an unfortunate regularity since 2025.

They gave up 412 yards of offense and a 45-spot to former Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and the Lions. Their defense ranks dead last in points allowed (162) by 11 and 28th in total yards (1,817)

Meanwhile Arizona’s offense, which is called by the head coach himself, has not been as productive — or, more importantly — consistent as hoped.

Often will a half-opening drive look lengthy and effective, only for the Cardinals to go three-and-out on multiple occasions soon after. Arizona ranks 30th in the NFL in yards per play (4.5), 23rd in total yards (1,506) and 22nd in total points (108).

When asked about the possibility of a shift in playcalling duties or roles on either the offensive or defensive side of the ball, LaFleur kept it short: “No.”

“My job is to see the issues and handle the issues and have the tough conversations,” LaFleur later added. “So if I felt like changes were needed for us to help us win this week, then I’m gonna do that, it’s my responsibility. But I don’t think that gives us the best chance to win this week.

“I think the best thing to do right now is re-evaluate what we’ve done, what we’ve done well, because there are some bright spots. But there’s also a lot of spots that we got to improve on. And I told the defense, when I talked to the defense today, where our changes are gonna be made. … I’ll keep that in-house.”

In other words, it does not sounds like Rallis is on track to be demoted, fired or removed from playcalling duties. Veteran assistant coach Teryl Austin, who has a resume of success in a defensive coordinator role, will not be filling those shoes this week, barring a last-minute change of heart.

“He’s kind of right there with Nick. And obviously, taking a deep dive into these first five games, particularly what happened yesterday, to get some things fixed,” LaFleur said.

“There’s gonna be no changes with playcallers, but we’re looking at how to improve this defense and make sure that we are better than what we’re putting out there. …  I do believe we have the right guys on defense to play better.”

Unfortunately, it sounds like more of the same is coming for the Cardinals. Hope for improvement in the coming weeks remains internal.

Could Carson Beck have elevated role for Cardinals this week?

The other change fans have desired — not involving headsets, the GM position or ownership — is to the quarterback position. Five weeks into Jacoby Brissett’s tenure as starter, he’s provided one strong performance and a handful of less-than-thrilling games.

Brissett is 2-15 dating back to 2025 as Arizona’s signal-caller. He’s completed just over 66% of his passes and ranks 14th in passing yards (1,110), but ranks 21st in QB rating (85.2). That can be a flawed stat, of course, but much of Brissett’s volume production has come in low-leverage, late-game situations.

And so, may are already calling to see third-round rookie Carson Beck behind center, leapfrogging backup Gardner Minshew in the process. Beck has been a healthy inactive, serving as the emergency third QB so far this season.

LaFleur would not commit to a QB change this week, either, but did make one notable remark about Beck’s status:

“If we think that’s what’s best,” he said, when asked about potentially moving Beck to an active role. “Haven’t had those discussions; we’ll end up having that discussion tomorrow at about noon.”

It will be more “wait-and-see” for the Cardinals this week, for a fanbase that has waited for years — and not seen much to be proud of.