Kyler Murray wants his legs to be a ‘luxury’ in Cardinals’ offense – NFL Nation

TEMPE, Ariz. — After the Arizona Cardinals misplaced a sport they need to’ve received to the New England Patriots final November, quarterback Kyler Murray mentioned what he had to say as Arizona’s chief and face of the Cardinals’ franchise.

He deflected and praised.

“I don’t think I have to run for us to be successful,” Murray mentioned after the three-level loss in which he threw for 170 yards and ran for 31, 15 of which got here on one play.

What wasn’t recognized then was that Murray had suffered his second shoulder damage of the season the week earlier than in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks, inflicting him to be extra protecting of his physique. And that made him extra cautious as a runner.

Murray knew he had to run for the Cardinals to win. He knew if he could not run, the Cardinals offense would slog by way of the remainder of the season. He was proper and is aware of now that issues want to change.

“Honestly, the way I see it is my legs should be a luxury,” Murray mentioned throughout Arizona’s June minicamp. “And it kind of wasn’t like that last year. It was kind of me having to run for us in a sense and once my shoulder was banged up, or whatever, and I wasn’t trying to put myself out there and take those hits and stuff like that, we kind of hit a lull.”

Murray first injured his shoulder throughout a Week 9 loss to the Miami Dolphins. He reinjured it 11 days later in opposition to the Seahawks.

Those two losses kickstarted a nosedive for Arizona, which misplaced three in a row and 4 of 5, and would’ve misplaced 5 in a row had it not been for the Hail Mary from Murray to broad receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

With the help of six months of hindsight, Murray seems again on the second half of final season, in which Arizona went 3-6 and missed the playoffs, as a blessing in disguise.

“Honestly, I think it was good for us,” Murray mentioned. “I think it was a lesson for us that we can’t be one dimensional. We just got to be better in all areas, all aspects of the game and do the little things right because, like I told you last year, we started off hot and towards the end, we were losing games we shouldn’t have lost and I think that’s a sign of inconsistency and not doing everything right on and off the field. So, like I said, it’s a lesson for us. I think we’ll be better for it.”

Murray’s manufacturing dipped in these remaining 9 video games. He went from dashing for 62.4 yards per sport in the primary seven to 42.1 in the final 9, and from throwing for 263.9 yards per sport to 236.

“Anybody can look and see kind of where that shifted a bit, style of play and production, things of that nature,” coach Kliff Kingsbury mentioned. “That’s part of playing in this league and I thought he did a nice job of pushing through. He was uncomfortable a bunch throughout the season and still went out there and gave it everything you had to try and win games.

“Hopefully, we are able to hold him wholesome and keep heading in the right direction however he realized some precious classes by way of that.”