The Arizona Cardinals have already been a pleasant surprise during the 2023 NFL season. However, the team reportedly won’t get a boost from quarterback Kyler Murray anytime soon with the NFL star still sidelined indefinitely.
Murray suffered a non-contact ACL tear in a December matchup against the New England Patriots last season. While he underwent surgery a few weeks later and has made nice progress, the two-time Pro Bowl selection has never had a clear timeline for his return.
Related: Kyler Murray making strong impression on Arizona Cardinals staff
Rumors surfaced late in the summer that Murray could miss the entire 2023 season. However, those reports were refuted with Arizona insisting that it will start Murray as soon as he’s ready and that he won’t be kept on the sideline just to improve the team’s draft spot.
While the 26-year-old is making steady progress and continues to be around the team, it appears that he’ll remain sidelined for several more weeks.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Murray will not be activated off the Physically Unable to Perform list when first eligible on Monday. Of greater concern, though, he is reportedly still weeks away from having a chance at returning to the field.
“It just doesn’t feel like [Murray’s return] is imminent.”
Arizona Cardinals source on quarterback Kyler Murray
Under NFL rules, a team can activate a player off the PUP list the day following their fourth game of the season. After that, there is a five-week period where they can bring the player back to practice and ease them in before adding them to the 53-man roster.
As of now, Murray won’t be returning to practice next week but he still does want to play for Arizona in 2023. If the Cardinals don’t activate him within the next five weeks, Murray will be moved to injured reserve and ruled out for the remainder of the season.
- Kyler Murray stats (career): 13,848 passing yards, 84-41 TD-INT, 66.8% completion rate, 92.5 quarterback rating, 2,204 rushing yards, 23 rushing touchdowns in 57 games
During his absence, Joshua Dobbs has filled in as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback. In three contests, Dobbs has the 10th-best ESPN QBR (61.1) in the NFL with 549 passing yards and three total touchdowns.