So close to the regular season, yet so far from looking ready—that’s how Saturday night felt for Jonathan Gannon. The Red Sea saw their team lose 7-27 to the Denver Broncos in the 2nd preseason game. Just like last joint practice, the Broncos’ offense moved with ease while Arizona’s defense couldn’t find an answer.

Still, the word “preseason” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Most starters were in baseball caps rather than helmets, and Jacoby Brissett barely had time to break a sweat before heading to the sideline. His opening drive was cut short, though he found a rhythm the second time around before Jonathan Gannon pulled the plug. For a team desperate to set the tone, this was one they’d rather forget.

Then came the Clayton Tune experiment, and it quickly became a reminder of how top-heavy the Cardinals are. Without their stars, the offense simply had no bite. Drives stalled, timing broke down, and the Broncos feasted on mistakes. When the dust settled, Gannon didn’t dodge the spotlight but pointed it toward the team’s health. Injuries, especially to rookie center Hayden Conner, became the storyline he leaned on in the aftermath.

“Quickly, on the injury front, Hayden has got a knee, wasn’t able to finish, so we’ll look at that tomorrow. I think everybody else came out OK. We had a couple of guys cramp, but we’re able to finish,” Gannon said after the loss. He didn’t sugarcoat the team’s overall performance either, adding, “Got out of play tonight, that was obvious by the score. Where I really thought that we need to do a lot better job is our fundamentals from really all three phases. So, the basic fundamentals of football, I thought they did a lot better than us today.”

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What made it sting more was how quickly Conner’s night ended. After showing steady growth in camp and earning his first starting nod at center, he went down just three plays into Arizona’s opening drive. He limped before collapsing and needed trainers to check him out, though he managed to walk off on his own. It was a gut punch for a young lineman fighting for a role.

And now, Gannon has a new problem to solve—who takes over at center if Conner misses time? On Saturday, Sincere Haynesworth stepped into the role, while Jon Gaines II and Nick Leverett held down the left and right guard spots. The reshuffle kept the offense afloat, but as the Red Sea knows too well, constant line changes rarely spell stability. With Week 1 inching closer, the Cardinals can’t afford to let injuries become their excuse and their identity.

Jonathan Gannon focused on rebuilding the Cardinals playbook

 Jonathan Gannon is steering the Red Sea in a new direction. After a rocky 2024, he’s made it clear that restructuring the playbook is at the top of his to-do list. With a roster brimming with talent on both ends of the ball, Gannon believes the time is right to expand, tweak, and give the Cardinals a sharper identity heading into the new season.

Meanwhile, that also means holding his staff accountable. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing carried the weight of play-calling last year, but the unit hit a snag late in the season—especially in the passing game. Arizona ranked just 18th in passing yards per game, despite heavily targeting Marvin Harrison Jr. and Greg Dortch a combined 166 times. Harrison Jr. delivered with 14.3 yards a catch, while Dortch averaged 9.2. With numbers like that, Gannon knows the passing attack has to evolve. After all, improving the scheme not only balances the offense but also cuts down Kyler Murray’s interceptions and boosts his confidence.

Furthermore, Gannon recently summed it up perfectly after Day 1 of training camp, saying, “The coaching staff will be picking up where they’d left off last season. In short, the many highlights on both sides of the ball need to be revisited, and the bloopers on both sides of the ball need to be expunged.” Translation—keep the good, erase the bad, and move forward smarter.

Ultimately, part of that forward push could mean Gannon moves away from some of Petzing’s risky tendencies. Instead, leaning into a more traditional play style could help ease third-down pressure and carve out real opportunities for Trey Benson and James Conner in the ground game. As Gannon is already asking for major change, the big question is—what exactly will Gannon try next?