Kyler Murray Gets Honest on ACL Injury, Cardinals' New Regime
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was silent for much of the offseason, a rather big one for the franchise passer as he recovered from a torn ACL and meniscus.
However, that silence (aside from the occasional workout update or tweet) was broken on the team's YouTube series "Flight Plan" where Murray was the subject of the entire 20 minutes of action.
The episode first begins with Murray on the recovery table at facility, recalling the moment he tore his ACL in Week 12 of last season on Monday Night Football.
"I've never felt that before and then I was on my back just looking up," said Murray, who mentioned everything was a blur after he went down.
"I know people that have done this injury. I made that cut a million times. Obviously when something like that happens, you kind of know it's probably not normal what happened - but I didn't know [the ACL was torn]."
Murray said he was in the training room the very next day after his surgery, which was on Jan. 3.
"That first two weeks was f----- terrible. Moving was tough. You're just kind of helpless, you're dependent on everybody. Luckily I have people around me that help me out," he said.
The episode moved to Murray getting some work in on the field and in the weight room before he went to Norman, OK to celebrate the official unveiling of his Heisman statue from the Oklahoma Sooners. Marquise Brown and a good chunk of the Cardinals' staff/front office was there to support.
"I have a bad habit of downplaying moments like this in my career," said Murray after the statue was unveiled. "This is pretty special. Regardless of this statue, I want to let everybody know that I try to be myself every day and work hard, earn these guys' respect and put my best foot forward, and this is what came out of it."
Murray then opened up on what it meant to have several members of the organization there with him to celebrate the occasion.
"Just having them there, the support off-grid [meant a lot]. They've only been in the building for maybe a month or so. For them to fly out to Norman, in the middle of nowhere during the draft process to come see me and my statue put up, that was a big deal," said Murray.
He was then asked about the coaching change:
"It's pretty different for me, but it's been seamless. Me and JG [Jonathan Gannon] hit it off, he sees things the way I see things. He can relate to the guys and he genuinely feels like he believes in the guys and trying to get them better, me better. I feel like you'll run through a wall for that type of guy, and that's the type of energy that he brings," said Murray.
"I feel free in a sense, especially with the change of upstairs [general manager] in the organization. I feel like they've done a great job ever since they came in. Holding people accountable, the leadership, they're really trying to build something from the ground up.
"The way we're going, the sky's the limit."
The episode then moves to Murray and his father tossing the ball and discussing Murray's mindset moving forward.
"He'll get better as a result of not only the injury, but also how they played last year," said his father. "The best of Kyler has yet to come."
During a haircut, Murray said he's been keeping positive as his rehab continues.
"It's got to be a positive. There really is no option for it to be a negative," Murray said in terms of attacking the rehab," said Murray.
"I feel you get your little grace period right after it happens, dwell on it, soak in it, let the feelings take over. After that, (expletive), we gotta go. Life doesn't stop. The job doesn't stop. And I'm not going to stop."
Murray said he likes to travel and play chess, and even made a little Call of Duty joke in the process when asked what his hobbies away from football.
The episode concludes with Murray wrapping up a quick trip to Hawaii, where he trained just a few weeks ago. He revealed when he wanted to return:
"I feel good with where we're at now," said Murray.
“When you look further down the line, it seems like we got a long way to go. Ideally, I want to be back by Week 1. That’s the goal. At the end of the day, that’s the goal, but I can’t really look that far ahead. Got to take it one day at a time.
"I'm ready to go."
Full video below:
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