The Arizona Cardinals made some major changes earlier in the offseason, putting a new regime in place. Out were general manager Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury; in were Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon.
Those two have a major undertaking ahead of them as the Cardinals have arguably the weakest roster in the NFL right now. Arguably the most important task they have is getting quarterback Kyler Murray back on track. Inheriting a quarterback from the previous regime is always risky, but Gannon has loved what he has seen thus far this offseason from his franchise quarterback.
Murray isn’t able to take the field yet as he recovers from ACL surgery. It could be months until he is, but his presence is already being felt. After years of working out on his own separately from the team, Murray has remained with the team this offseason. It is something that meant a lot to Gannon in his first head coaching job.
“He’s been here,” Gannon said. “He’s been the first one in the building, been here after everybody goes, and I got to spend a lot of time with him during … OTA periods and just seeing how he’s working.
“You can tell he’s really, really locked in, how much he’s itching to get back out there. He’s behind the huddles every play, so really locked in and really excited for his return and just his whole process.”
Murray’s ACL injury was suffered while scrambling in a game against the New England Patriots on December 12th. A typical recovery is anywhere from 9-12 months and numerous factors go into it. Everyone recovers and rehabs differently, which is why Gannon and the team aren’t putting any timetables on when Murray could be back out there.
Despite the injury, he is still putting in a ton of work not only with his physical rehab but learning a new offense. Backup quarterback Colt McCoy has been impressed by Murray during meetings thus far this offseason.
“He’s been great in meetings,” McCoy said. “This is all new for all of us, especially new for Kyler. Just the total operation from the moment you get the playcall in your headset. Our thought process last year, we would just signal it all out and flow like that.
“Now, there’s just a different operation and I think that part has been new for everybody, and Kyler’s done a great job with that. He’s in the meetings, we talk a lot, we communicate, he asks good questions. The only thing he’s not doing is going out on the field. He’s doing all his rehab and getting better.”
The offense is going to look much different than the Air Raid style that Kingsbury employed during his tenure as Cardinals head coach. It was important for him to be there during the practices, even if he couldn’t partake on the field, as it was mental reps and good preparation for when he is cleared to play again.
