As the opening of training camps in the NFL approach, there is likely no team with more questions than the Cardinals.
Of course, one of the biggest and the one that has been asked frequently throughout the offseason is when quarterback Kyler Murray will be ready to play.
The organization stoked the fire and perhaps created unrealistic expectations when they posted an audio/video preview on social media of the “Flight Plan” scheduled to drop Thursday night that was accompanied by an in-depth story on the team website that included the first comments from Murray since he tore the ACL in his right knee on Dec. 12 against the Patriots.
A recent report that said Murray is anxious to play as soon as possible was actually nothing new. During OTAs and minicamp, whenever Jonathan Gannon was asked about Murray, the coach said he wants to be on the field but that he won’t play until he’s ready.
“He wants to be out there, I know that,” Gannon said after one OTA practice. “He’s fully engaged with everything we’re doing. I saw him making the reads back there behind the offense. When you see your trigger guy out there, it matters. He’s done everything and more that we wanted him to do and I’m excited for him with where he’s at.”
Teammates agreed.
Said wide receiver Marquis Brown, his former Oklahoma teammate, “He’s been attacking it, been going hard every day with a smile on his face, getting other guys going when he’s not out there, so I’m excited. He wants to get back out there, so I know he’s going to attack it as best as he can to try and make it back out there whenever he can.”
Added receiver Rondale Moore, “He’s always been the same guy. Hard worker who goes out there and does what he has to do in order to get better. I think it’s as simple as that. Comes in early, gets his work done, comes outside and watches practice. Watches tape. He’ll text you if he sees something on tape he doesn’t like or he does like. He asks questions and it just goes from there.
“He’s been great.”
Murray also impressed receiver Zach Pascal, who was with the Eagles last season and signed as an unrestricted free agent in March.
“You see quarterbacks, you don’t get to see the work,” Pascal said. “They’re not going to be in the weight room deadlifting all this weight, so you don’t get to see it. But being in the building and watching him grind; it’s been fun to see because you get to see something different from your guy.
“It’s like, ‘Dang, I didn’t even know that was your makeup because I’ve never seen you do it’ and now it’s like, ‘OK, I see who you are.’ I get a little bit more understanding of who you are and why you are the way that you are. It’s been cool for me — I’ve been loving it — to be around him a bunch.”
Left tackle D.J. Humphries, who was recovering from a back injury during the offseason, was around Murray more than normal because both were rehabbing.
He said, “I was a Kyler Murray fan before, but I’m a big Kyler Murray fan now, for sure. I feel like I’ve learned a lot about Kyler because we’ve been in the training room a lot. He trains away every offseason, so you don’t ever really get to really see. Offseason training is the real work. Football is organized. You need to do this, this and this and then you can leave.
“Offseason training is really like how much do you care about football? How often are you going to come in here? This is when you build that callus for real. I feel like I’ve gotten to know him more this offseason just being around him and seeing him attack his rehab like this. It’s been impressive.”
Murray addressed how he approached the lengthy process.
“It’s got to be a positive,” he said. “There’s really no option for it to be a negative. I feel like you get your little grace period right after it happens, dwell on it, soak in it, let the feelings take over. After that, (expletive), we got to go. Life doesn’t stop, the job doesn’t stop. And I’m not going to stop. My ultimate goal is to get better and obviously win Super Bowls. That’s my goal.”
It was then that Murray dropped the “goal bomb” that has the Red Sea giddy. He said, “When you look further down the line, it seems like we got a long way to go. Ideally, I want to be back by Week 1. That’s the goal. At the end of the day, that’s the goal.”
However, he did close that thought with a dose of reality, saying, “But I can’t really look that far ahead. Got to take it one day at a time.”
There was also some strong overreaction to the posted video that showed Murray in his backyard, wearing shoulder pads and standing on concrete, throwing 15- to 20-yard passes to his father, Kevin. He didn’t step into the throws, which didn’t have significant velocity and it was done to keep his arm in shape.
Murray also has been running, but only straight ahead. There’s nothing wrong with liking his progress, but what he’s doing is still a long way from running and cutting at full speed or playing against an NFL defense. The season opener is only 59 days away.
Still, the most important question isn’t asked enough. It’s not when Murray will be able to play, but rather when he will be able to practice to get ready to play. That’s a question complicated by the timeline and becoming comfortable on the field with the new offensive scheme installed by coordinator Drew Petzing.
Quarterback Colt McCoy, who is expected to be the starter at the beginning of the season, noted that the offense is different than anything he’s experienced in 14 NFL seasons and how important it was to get reps on the field in the offseason to make mistakes then and learn from them. For Murray, there’s only so much to be gained from mental reps.
So it is that the Cardinals have an important decision to make when players report July 25 with the first practice two days later.
Many expect Murray to open camp on the physically unable to perform list (PUP), which is for players that don’t pass the physical. The problem is those players are not permitted to practice at all, save for some limited work on the side.
They can come off PUP at any point in camp, but if they don’t, another decision comes on Aug. 29 (12 days before the opener in Washington) when rosters are slashed to 53 players. If a PUP player remains there, he goes on the reserve list for at least four weeks and still isn’t permitted to practice until passing the physical and exiting PUP.
While the player can practice for 21 days before returning to the active roster, it would be problematical to get Murray meaningful work in practice when someone else has to prepare to actually play in games.
So, what will the Cardinals do? Considering that there is no contact for the first five days of practice, they should refrain from placing Murray on PUP and have him do as much as he is capable of doing, slowly ramping up as the summer progresses.
That doesn’t mean he will be ready to play in Week 1, but he will surely be more ready when it’s deemed time, given whatever level of work he received. Overdo it? Obviously not. Be smart? Clearly, that seems to be the best approach.
Meanwhile, aside from continuing to work to get back on the field, Murray appears energized and challenged by the changes in the front office and coaching staff and in the first five months has developed a good relationship with Gannon and his approach.
Murray said, “They are really investing in the organization and the team. You run through a wall for that type of guy. That’s the energy he brings. I think winning cures all, and it’s been tough to do that with some of the circumstances we’ve had to deal with. But I think we are headed in the right direction.”
He added, “I’m thinking of stuff that I wasn’t part of, like the draft, who we were gonna get, young players coming out. The whole (2022) year was (expletive). It happened for a reason. The things we were doing weren’t sustainable for success. It was necessary and in turn good will come out of what happened.”
He did acknowledge many of the circumstances, some out of anyone’s control, that made last season a mess.
“To hit a wall Year 4, especially after going through the whole contract thing, the energy, the aura, the vibes going into the season were all negative,” Murray claimed. “Having to deal with all that stuff and trying to focus on football, and then I got COVID in camp, I hurt my wrist in camp so I missed a lot of reps, and having to play catch-up in the season, starting with the Chiefs, it was kind of a compilation of (expletive)-up things going on. … (It was) a (expletive)-ton of frustration.”
He also understands the focus that is always on the quarterback and knows it’s not fun when there is losing amid high expectations. Asserting he is “wiser” entering his fifth season with birthday No. 26 on Aug. 7, Murray concluded, “I’ve got to respect the person or understand the ins and outs or the rhymes and reasons for what we are doing. I’m going to listen. I’m going to be coachable and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, but if the (expletive) ain’t working, at some point, we all have to look in the mirror.
“As far as growing from my rookie year to now, learning how to be one with your emotions, understanding how to talk to people. Some people are able to take the harsh way, and I am naturally that way, or do I need to give them a little love and that’s part of the quarterback position. … And (learning) what can I do better, how can I be better, how can I make the guys around me better? It’s a team sport. We all have to be locked in.”
Whether that begins to happen will determine whether the way-too-early mock drafts that have the Cardinals with the first choice nine months from now and selecting quarterback Caleb Williams will be wrong.
Don’t hesitate to comment or ask questions on Twitter @hbalzer721 or email me: howard@gophnx.com
