Jacoby Brissett reflects on Arizona Cardinals training camp’s final practice, emphasizing getting “hit” and staying ready

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett used the team’s training camp wraparound moment to focus on the practical side of getting ready for the preseason. In a post-camp reflection published by the Cardinals, Brissett’s attention centered on “catching up” and the significance of the “last practice” as camp moved into its aftermath phase.

The theme was familiar to longtime NFL quarterbacks: the preseason is where timing meets contact. The Cardinals piece framed quarterback development through a viewpoint attributed to former Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer, who said he liked to play in the preseason because he needed to be hit, arguing that a passer was going to take contact and should begin getting his body used to it.

That philosophy underscores why training camps are more than walkthroughs and terminology. For a quarterback, the work is as much about repeating decision-making under physical pressure as it is about learning routes and protection calls. The end of camp matters because it is the last stretch when the team can compress reps, refine cadence and handoffs, and align play concepts across the offense.

Brissett’s comments also point to the day-to-day reality of camp, where the “catching up” language often reflects how quickly a quarterback’s mind has to move as practices stack. In the preseason context, that usually means being able to process coverage changes quickly, communicate adjustments cleanly, and execute with the same timing when the pace and contact inevitably rise.

With training camp complete, the immediate shift for an offense is transition: fewer high-volume team sessions, more targeted preparation, and a stronger emphasis on how practices translate into game-like situations. For quarterbacks, those days can be a bridge between polishing fundamentals and carrying those fundamentals into preseason snaps, where timing, protections, and intermediate throws are tested immediately.

Arizona’s camp finale reflection also serves as a reminder that preseason readiness is not just about arm strength or mechanics. Even when the emphasis is on execution, the quarterback position carries a unique physical cost during live-team work, which is why getting comfortable with contact before meaningful games starts remains a consistent organizational objective across the league.

What to watch next for the Cardinals is how Brissett and the broader quarterback group handle the cadence and communication demands of preseason action, and whether the mental focus from camp’s end carries over into the first opportunities that resemble real game speed and contact.

As camp gives way to preseason preparation, the most reliable takeaway from Brissett’s reflection is the emphasis on being prepared to absorb impact, stay sharp in timing, and keep learning in short, high-leverage windows. That is the kind of preparation that can’t be fully simulated in the final days of practice, which is why the next on-field reps take on added importance.