Kyler Murray Doesn't Love Splitting Reps While Learning Vikings' Offense

After seven years with one organization in Arizona, where he was virtually always the unquestioned starter when healthy, Kyler Murray is going through the process of learning a new offense in a new home this offseason. And the Vikings' newest quarterback is learning Kevin O'Connell's offense, which veterans like Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold have described as quite complex over the years.

On Tuesday, after the first day of Vikings mandatory minicamp, Murray mentioned the difficulty of trying to get adjusted to this scheme while splitting practice reps. He's used to taking all the reps, but now he's rotating in with J.J. McCarthy as the two ostensibly compete for the starting role.

"I was (in Arizona) for seven years," Murray said. "I know I had two different offensive systems, but at the same time, you're getting all those reps. Now having to split reps, me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that you would typically want a guy to get learning an offense, that's probably the toughest part."

That's a pretty blunt statement from Murray, who seemingly would prefer if the Vikings dropped the notion of a quarterback competition and gave him the full slate of QB1 reps moving forward to ease his transition into this scheme. Murray also flat-out said, when asked about the competition dynamic, that he isn't worried about that element of things right now.

"Me personally, I'm not really too worried about the competition side of things, honestly," he said.

Although the true competition phase of the offseason doesn't begin until training camp, Murray had clearly looked like the better of the two quarterbacks in the pair of OTA practices open to media members over the past couple weeks. The two-time Pro Bowler has drawn praise for his ability to layer the ball and throw with anticipation, creating some doubt about the legitimacy of McCarthy's chances to win the job.

Kyler Murray at Vikings OTAs | Alli Rusco, Minnesota Vikings

Tuesday was a bit different. Murray's first non-checkdown pass in 7-on-7 action was intended for tight end Gavin Bartholomew, but a miscommunication led to an easy interception for safety Theo Jackson. On the very next play, Murray tried to find Jauan Jennings down the seam but threw long and saw the ball picked off by cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., his former teammate in Arizona.

It can be tricky, he said, to balance learning a new offense with wanting to play well and avoid mistakes. He's trying to give himself grace on days like today and remember that there's a long way to go until the regular season begins.

"For me, this is different territory, obviously having to learn a new offense on the fly but at the same time trying to be efficient, trying to be accurate, and find my way within the offense and understanding what (coach O'Connell) wants us to accomplish within each concept, play, and all the things like that," Murray said. "But at the same time, giving myself grace. We're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna turn the ball over. Obviously you don't want to, but this is the learning phase and the time to do those things.

"It can be frustrating. You go home frustrated at days where you don't feel like you put your best performance out there. But at the end of the day, I gotta remind myself that this is — I don't know how many days I've been here, but it hasn't been much. And it is a lot. And that's part of the process, and I just gotta embrace it."

Murray, who turns 29 in August, has been through a lot in his seven years in the NFL. The former No. 1 overall pick has experienced high highs and low lows. He's gotten MVP buzz. He's missed time due to injury. He's been released, which is how he ended up in Minnesota. What he's trying to do now is use that experience to remember that learning and growing matters more than results at this stage of the offseason.

"The competitor that I am, obviously everybody out here holds themselves to a high standard, and that's the unfortunate part when you do have days where you feel like 'Ah, I wish I had that back, I wish I had that throw back,' whatever it is," Murray said. "Coaches reminding you, staying on you about 'Hey, this is the learning phase, you are new to this, you gotta give yourself that grace and take it with a grain of salt, because this is the time we're trying to get better.' So it's all a part of the process.

Being a perfectionist is tough, especially in sports. Playing baseball, playing football, you're gonna fail. It is what it is, and we all deal with it. I think how you deal with it and how you persevere through times of adversity is what makes an athlete who they are, because we're all going to fail."

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