CARDINALS CAMP
Cards QB Murray doesn’t plan on losing
Superman wasn’t wearing a cape on Thursday but judging from the crowd’s wild reaction when Kyler Murray maneuvered around the practice field, it seemed clear that Cardinals fans expect the team’s new rookie starting quarterback to be faster than a speeding bullet with an arm more powerful than a locomotive and that he’s able to leap State Farm Stadium in a single bound. ❚ People probably ought to keep their expectations in check considering this was only the first training camp practice of Murray’s NFL career. Others, though, including Cardinals’ star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, isn’t afraid to help whip up the hype and excitement raging around the No. 1 pick from this year’s draft. ❚ “It’s going to be his show. If you want to be a part of it, get on board,” Fitzgerald said. ❚ With several hundred spectators watching from the seats above, Murray looked the part, sporting the trademark tinted visor he keeps attached to his helmet that makes him look like a miniature Darth Vader. He won’t be allowed to wear it in games, but for now, it’s a part of his daily swag. ❚ “Yeah, I gotta stay with it,” he said. “It’s part of the feel. You feel good, you play good. Look good, play good.”
There’s a lot more swag in Murray than the dark shield that hides his eyes. From the first day he started slinging passes and running keepers back in rookie mini-camp, he’s had full control of the offense and a captain-like command over the entire team not seen very often from first-year quarterbacks.
“He’s like a 10-year vet already,” rookie wide receiver Hakeem Butler said.
“You see the maturity, you see the swagger with the way he carries himself,” added fellow receiver Christian Kirk. “He has a different kind of aura that he gives off. It’s been good. It’s good for guys to rally around and be comfortable with. We’re all confident in what he can do.”
Fitzgerald is entering his 16th NFL season and he swears it’s all true what they’re saying about Murray. There is a legitimate quiet confidence about the young man that is noticeable to everyone in and around the Cardinals.
“It’s reassuring,” Fitzgerald said. “When you look in his eyes, there’s nothing timid about him. He looks confident and is ready to go and that’s a great thing for a young quarterback.”
There’s a reason why Kyler Murray is so beloved and trusted by the Cardinals and why he’s the most intriguing new face in the NFL. It’s not because of the spectacular individual stats he racked up last season at Oklahoma that helped him win the Heisman Trophy. It’s not because of his diminutive, 5-foot-10 stature and the fact he’s the shortest quarterback to be drafted in the first round in more than half a century.
It’s because he’s a winner. Dating back to his high school days in Allen, Texas, Murray is 54-2 as a starting quarterback. And if you don’t believe the kid has confidence, take a look at what he said when asked how he’ll handle losing should the Cardinals – 3-13 a year ago – have trouble winning games in 2019. “I haven’t really thought about losing, so I don’t really know,” he said. “But I don’t plan on it.”
Let that sink in for a moment. It’s that kind of competitiveness that made it easy for the Cardinals to draft Murray, trade away Josh Rosen, and name Murray the starting quarterback right out of the chute.
“Yeah, I think any time there’s uncertainty, at that position particularly, it can be tough on the psyche of a lot of players and a lot of coaches and a lot of GMs and owners and everybody else,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “So, to have a guy we believe to be the future of this franchise, it’s exciting times for this organization.”
Kingsbury knows Murray as well as anyone, having tried to recruit him since the quarterback’s sophomore season at Allen High. But he doesn’t know how Murray would react to losing because Murray’s never really lost. So, how does he think Murray would handle it?
“Not well,” Kingsbury said with a laugh. “But that’s his mentality. … He’s the ultimate competitor. That’s why he is who he is, the first guy ever to be a Top 10 pick in two sports. You don’t get that way unless you’re extremely mentally tough and super competitive and so I don’t see any adversity shaking him at all.”
Prior to Thursday’s first practice of camp, Murray met reporters and was asked to touch on a variety of subjects, including:
❚ Getting two weeks of extra work with the rookies prior to the start of camp: “I think for all of us it was just good to get those reps and having everybody’s individual coach there just talking to them throughout that whole time. The veterans were gone, so we could get a little more of that hands-on work with each other and it helped all of us for sure.”
❚ If Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense will work in the NFL: “I don’t see why everybody thinks it can’t be successful. … We work at it, we practice it and it’s our job to execute it. … It’s our job to make people believe in that.”
❚ Using similar terminology and play-calling verbiage he used in college: “I think it’s helped me a lot just coming in and being more comfortable. If I was to go anywhere else and play for another guy, I’d have to learn a whole new system, a whole new offense and it would be a lot harder.”
❚ If the team will try to keep the offense under wraps during preseason games: “That’s a good question, but I think that’s up to coach. For us, we’re going to get a lot of good reps during practice, a lot of good, live reps. We’ll see how it works out, but like I said, that’s up to coach.”
Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live every Tuesday afternoon between 2-5:30 on AM 1060/SB Nation Radio on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch and every Wednesday afternoon between 1-4 on Fox Sports 910-AM on The Freaks with Kenny and Crash.