Murray well up to speed with Cards
Coach Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals remain reluctant to share specifics about what their offense will look like this season. If you want details, you’ll probably have better luck finding out what the Colonel puts in his chicken to make it so delicious.
Keeping things a secret makes sense for Kingsbury, though. Any advantage you can spring on an opponent can only help a rookie NFL head coach -- especially one relying on a rookie quarterback, Kyler Murray, to run the entire show.
The good news is, whatever exactly it is that the Cardinals plan to unveil on offense in 2019, Murray already knows it better than anyone on the team. Veteran Larry Fitzgerald mentioned that last week and both Kingsbury and Murray basically confirmed it on Tuesday as the team opened its three-day mandatory mini-camp in Tempe.
“I think there’s probably some truth to that, having played in a similar system for all those years,” Kingsbury said of Murray. “Christian Kirk has a good feel for it as well, I’d say. Some of the terminology and concepts are really similar to what they’ve both done before.”
Though he danced around certain questions when asked about some of the particulars of Arizona’s offense, Murray wasn’t bashful about his knowledge of the system. Asked if what Fitzgerald said is true, that Murray knows it better than anyone, the No.1 overall draft pick didn’t duck.
“Is it true? I’d say obviously I’m more familiar with it,” Murray said. “Coach Kingsbury obviously knows it the best. But yeah, obviously with (Fitzgerald) being a veteran and not having to come to every OTA and stuff like that and me being there every day, studying every day, yes, I do know it better.
“But that’s my job.”
Murray knows there are bound to be some growing pains. But he’s incredibly confident he can step in right away and turn the franchise around after three consecutive non-playoff seasons, including last year’s painfully bad 3-13 finish.
“I think coming off a pretty good season at Oklahoma, playing good football and knowing what it takes to be good at that level, hopefully, bringing that into this season. It’s going to take a lot of reps between me and the guys, getting on the same page and just finding that groove.
“Once we do, I think we can be pretty dangerous.”
Kingsbury has said almost any quarterback could run the type of offense he plans to operate with the Cardinals. That included Josh Rosen, traded to the Dolphins upon drafting Murray.
The rookie, though, is tailor-made to lead the show.
His dual-threat abilities as a passer and a scrambler with jet-like speed is the perfect balance for an up-tempo, attacking offense that likely will feature plenty of misdirection plays, quick throws, deep throws and probably lots of surprises out of the shotgun formation.
“It’s putting guys in space,” Murray said. “That’s what this offense does; it puts people in space. It makes defenders make decisions and like I said, I think it can be very dangerous.”
There’s only so much you can learn, of course, from a handful of offseason team activities and mini-camps. The real test for Murray and the offense won’t come until training camp when the pads come on and things start moving at full speed. Murray knows it’s going to look and feel a lot different, especially when the season starts.
The passing windows are tighter, he said, and defenders are smarter.
“They know what you’re doing before you even do it,” he said. “You say, ‘Hut’ and they already know what you’re looking for. It’s fun, It’s kind of a mind game. But it’s fun. It’s a lot of competition. It’s everything I thought it would be.
“I feel like I haven’t really seen it all. Obviously, I haven’t went live or played in a scrimmage yet or stuff like that. I’m getting used to it right now. … But for me, I’m just taking it one day at a time. I can’t wait until it’s really on.”
As far as developing chemistry with his collection of wide receivers and tight ends, not to mention an array of running backs who can catch the ball, namely David Johnson, Murray said important progress is being made.
“You can tell,” he said. “I think everyone can tell. It was kind of iffy at first – everybody getting into the system, learning the nuances of it – but now, it’s been a lot smoother. Week by week, it’s getting better.”
So is Murray, although when he makes mistakes, Kingsbury isn’t terribly concerned if the miscues are glaring or minimal – and there have been both.
“I like his attitude because he’s going to take chances,” the coach said. “And this is the time to do it. See what you can get away with. If you want to go at Pat (Peterson) a couple of times, it’s usually all it takes to learn. But no, he’s aggressive by nature the way he thinks and attacks when he’s out on the football field and I like that.”
Murray will tell you that straight up that’s he’s learned the offense better than everyone else, even though it’ getting a little harder to keep everything under wraps.
“With ya’ll?” he asked, laughing. “Yeah, a little bit. Just because I know everybody wants to know about it. But it is what it is.”
Can he at least say what the Cardinals are calling their offense? Do they have a name for it?
“It’s an offense,” Murray said, straight-faced.
It doesn’t have a clever nickname like “K Raid” or something?
“No. It’s an offense,” Murray said, adding, “It’s an offense.”