Cardinals Players Defend Murray's Work Ethic
Being part of a team means you have to have your teammates' back and Cardinals players came to defend Kyler Murray's focus when it comes to film study.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals veteran players reported for the first day of training camp. Most of the attention wasn’t on the first day back, but on the news of Murray's contract addendum.
Days after Murray signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension, it was revealed that there is an addendum that requires him to spend four hours of “independent study” each week or default guarantees in his contract.
The contract points out that watching television or playing video games during this study time would not be sufficient to earn study hours. It only added to the noise of critics who presume that Murray, an avid gamer, has a lack of focus when it comes to film study. For the players closest to Murray, the criticism couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Kyler knows the playbook better than anyone on this team,” tight end Zach Ertz said. when asked about his knowledge of the offense “When I first got here, last year, he was the guy that was helping along in learning the playbook.”
For Ertz, watching film is a large part of his process and he has created a routine but admitted that everyone has their own ways of studying for an opponent. The tight end also said that whenever he asked about an opponent, Murray was always on the same page as him.
Safety Budda Baker echoed Ertz’s viewpoint that every player studies in different ways.
“I know that K1 is a hard worker,” Baker said. “Some guys like to stay at the facility and watch film, and watch film on the not team-issued iPads. They watch films in their big rooms and some guys like to watch films at home and be by themselves.”
Along with teammates, Murray was also defended by his head coach. Kliff Kingsbury probably knows Murray better than anyone on the team. The two have been linked through college and professional football. If anyone knows Murray's work ethic, it would be Kingsbury.
“When I watch what he’s done since he got here and his development in all areas, all he’s done is get dramatically better each and every year and that's what I judge it by,” Kingsbury said. “There's a handful of quarterbacks that you can win a Super Bowl with in this league and we feel like he’s one of them and I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else.”
When the addendum was reported, questions arose about how Murray would be tracked and whether Kingsbury was involved in the clause being added to the contract.
Kingsbury said he was not involved in the negotiation process and strictly is involved with things on the field. While he may not have been involved in negotiations, it was revealed by general manager Steve Keim in Murray's press conference last Friday, that he and Kingsbury visited the Murray family to talk about expectations this season. Whether that involves study time is up for interpretation.
Another element to Murray's requirement is how the team will know if Murray is studying in good faith. Kingsbury didn’t reveal how, but said he doesn’t personally track players' study time.
“They don’t track mine. I’m sure [Rams head coach Sean] McVay has me beat by a couple hundred hours every week,” Kingsbury said. “These guys are professionals, they know how to get themselves ready for a game, they know what to watch . . . so I’ve never tracked it.”
Murray's new contract will keep him in the valley through the 2028 season. He becomes the second-highest paid quarterback in the NFL based on annual salary and is guaranteed $160 million with $103.3 million of that fully guaranteed at signing. That amount of money and investment from the franchise is enough for Kingsbury to see why the addendum was put in.
He said, “Negotiations are negotiations. Everybody has their things and wants different stuff and I’m just thrilled that this young man got what I feel like he deserves.”
With training camp now underway the team will have their first day of practice on Wednesday (July 27), and hold an open practice on Saturday (July 30).
