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Arizona Cardinals receiver Michael Wilson (14) celebrates his catch over Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Christian Braswell (21) at State Farm Stadium on Nov. 23, 2025. Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michael Wilson Owns 'Mental Lapse' Late in Cardinals Loss

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Nov 24, 2025 4:15 PM ET

On the surface, it looked like Arizona Cardinals WR Michael Wilson made a mental error that potentially cost his team late in Week 12's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Wilson, after making a catch to set Arizona up with a first down deep in Jaguars territory, spiked the ball in celebration with the clock under 30 seconds - and running.

The Cardinals ended up getting only one play off from there before kicking a field goal and eventually losing in overtime.

Since, Wilson has gotten some heat online for the play - though he owned up to it when meeting with reporters on Monday.

Cardinals WR Michael Wilson Takes Accountability for Late-Game Mistake

“I made a big play and I hate to say, but truthfully I had a mental lapse. The optics of it, it looks undisciplined and it’s bad. That’s not indicative of who I am as a player and how we coach things," said Wilson.

"We talk about our SOP's - standard operating procedures - in the two-minute from OTAs and we talk about it every week. JG [Jonathan Gannon] talks about it, catch an explosive and we don’t have a timeout, run the ball back to the official.

"It’s just a bad moment for me. I got to just get up and hand the ball to the ref. I don’t think it affected anything but it looks undisciplined. It looks sloppy.”

The play in question:

#AZCardinals torched nearly 20 seconds of clock after the Michael Wilson reception at the end of the game.

Instead of spiking it, Cards opted to run a play. Pass falls incomplete and field goal unit comes out to send it to OT. pic.twitter.com/VZM5j17TjT
— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) November 24, 2025

The apology is respectable, but truth be told, Wilson's not responsible for the Cardinals' failure at the end of the fourth quarter.

Arizona showed little urgency getting down the field to get the next play off, and quite honestly the Cardinals might have been better suited simply spiking the ball rather than wasting precious time trying to organize and execute a play with the clock running.

Wilson initially pops up with 28 seconds left and the Cardinals don't snap the ball until there's ten seconds remaining on the clock.

"It's what we practice, (it’s) what we talk about all week. In that situation it's either him or nobody. Hopefully, you catch a defense sleeping or something like that, but I liked the decision," Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett said of not spiking the ball.

Wilson has stepped up admirably in Arizona's offense following the temporary departure of Marvin Harrison Jr., who has missed the last two games due to appendicitis.

In that time, Wilson has 25 receptions for 303 receiving yards.

“He's tough. He wants it. (He’s) a competitor. You feel it throughout the week, and then when he comes to Sunday, it's no surprise with what he does," Brissett continued on Wilson.

It's admirable Wilson acknowledged what happened afterwards, though he was far from the reason the Cardinals weren't able to walk out of State Farm Stadium with a win.