Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray can hardly wait to take the field with his teammates on Sunday.
“It’s been a long, long 10 months,” said Murray, who is back as the Arizona starter this week for the first time since a torn ACL in December 2022 sent him down the grueling road of constant rehab.
“When you go through something like this, you find out really quick who you are and what you’re about.”
Murray was injured Dec. 12 and within a month the Cardinals were taking a sledgehammer to the power structure of the organization, firing most of the front office and head coach Kliff Kingsbury and, at the end of the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, hiring Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as head coach.
Murray said he’s been close with Gannon since he was hired in February, noting they are like-minded about where Murray is and where the Cardinals stand. Murray said the “detail” of the offense stands out to him and he’s excited to take the controls for the first time on Sunday. He said contrary to some opinions, the Cardinals “aren’t that far off.”
“Obviously, I haven’t played for JG, for (offensive coordinator) Drew (Petzing) but I got to witness it for the past however many months. I’ve seen what’s been put into it, I’ve seen the grind.
“I’m ready to go. I’m ready to go.”
Petzing said the plan with Murray is the same as it would be for any franchise quarterback. Protect him and put him in position to thrive, even when the injury risk exists.
“That’s always the nature of the franchise quarterback, and you see it around the league when they are very mobile, there is an injury risk associated with that. We have to manage that as all teams with elite quarterbacks do,” Petzing said.
–Field Level Media