Mike LaFleur spent enough hours inside the Rams‘ facility dialing up plays for Matthew Stafford to know exactly which buttons to push when he squares off against his former team as Arizona’s head coach.
The Cardinals have a bunch of other games to go through, presumably tougher than the Rams, before they head to SoFi Stadium on Oct. 18. Still, LaFleur knows the one player that the Rams QB Stafford finds quite flustering.
In his press conference, LaFleur said Stafford “didn’t like playing against Will Johnson last year.”
The reason? “You don’t really know what Will’s going to do.”
That’s why Will Johnson quickly became a standout for the Cardinals head coach heading into their Week 1 matchup against another dangerous team, the Chargers.
Cardinals Rookie Stood Out to Mike LaFleur
“I was really impressed with Will as a rookie,” LaFleur said in his presser previewing their Week 1 opponent.
“Obviously, I didn’t study him coming out. I did hear of him just being, you know, in that kind of first-round, second-round discussion just throughout the Rams building and there was love for him there.”
LaFleur even pointed to a specific sequence at SoFi Stadium last year where a clever design to spring Puka Nacua on a double-move got erased because Johnson diagnosed the route tree before it even developed.
“He is a good player. Sometimes I look at some of those corners and it doesn’t matter really how I feel. I want to know how Stafford feels, and I know how Stafford felt about him in terms of just a good young player. You can tell that he just understands ball. Like he understands the game,” LaFleur added.
Monti Ossenfort saw that before Stafford and LaFleur did. That’s precisely why he snatched the Michigan standout in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, handing him a four-year rookie deal worth roughly $9.4 million.
“When we came out here, he’s a good player, and you saw what [general manager Monti Ossenfort] and Arizona saw… You don’t know when he’s going to change up and throw a little curveball out there for you. I’m really impressed with him. Love the dude and I think he’s got a high ceiling,” LaFleur said.
Will Johnson Struggling with Injuries
The only problem with Johnson is his medical history. Although his medical file carries some standard wear-and-tear for a high-volume corner, his missing games can potentially disrupt the entire defense and LaFleur’s game plan.
Back in college, he dealt with a shoulder issue and a lingering turf-toe injury that forced him to miss time, and he’s had minor soft-tissue tracking like a groin pull early in his pro career, alongside brief stints managing back, hip, or thumb designations.
Heading into Week 1, Johnson remains out with an ankle injury, per Bo Brack, with merely vague updates from the head coach.
Yet, he’s confident about his physicality.
“I feel like my body’s in a good spot,” Johnson said during training camp. “I feel like I’m very comfortable in this defense and what my role is. So I’m excited to go show it on Sundays.”
His goal for the 2026 season is just one word.
“Takeaways.”
Mike LaFleur Names Cardinals’ CB Matthew Stafford Wanted No Part Of