Cardinals Don't Expect Kyler Murray to be Ready for 2023 Opener

The Arizona Cardinals don't expect quarterback Kyler Murray to recover from his torn ACL in time to begin the 2023 season.

The Arizona Cardinals are just one week away from the closing the book on what's been a horrendous season from start to finish in nearly aspect. 

The cherry on top of the (not great) sundae was the departure of quarterback Kyler Murray, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 14. The Cardinals were already a longshot to make the postseason prior to his injury, yet Murray's setback now extends doubt into his availability and form for the 2023 season. 

When speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury mentioned he didn't expect Murray to be ready for the beginning of next season when speaking on shutting down Colt McCoy for Week 18's meeting against the San Francisco 49ers. 

“Yeah. Colt, (we’re) basically shutting him down for the season. We need him next year, particularly with the situation we have currently with (QB) Kyler (Murray), so we’ll let David have at it and see how it goes," said Kingsbury.

“It was tough. He wanted to play and it’s just in our situation with, like I said, the impending (probability of) not having Kyler to start the year, it’s the right thing to do," Kingsbury said before also addressing if the team has evaluated what they'll do at quarterback in the offseason.

"We know that’s coming. That’s a discussion that’ll have to be had and there’ll be some options on the table, but we have not gone over that.”

McCoy suffered a concussion in Week 15 against the Denver Broncos, leaving way for quarterbacks Trace McSorley and David Blough to start the following two games. 

McCoy was expected to play last week vs. Atlanta but had symptoms of his concussion brought back. This week, Blough was named the starter for a second week as preparations for the 49ers are underway. 

As for Murray, yesterday he confirmed that his ACL surgery was successful, starting a long road to recovery for Arizona's franchise quarterback. 

ACL surgery was successful, thank you for all the love and prayers. I appreciate the support and positivity more than I can express, I’ll be back.🥋 pic.twitter.com/1wmj37ZtyK

— Kyler Murray (@K1) January 4, 2023

McCoy is under contract through the 2023 season and would likely be the starter if he returns to another season. Blough's play in Atlanta gave him an edge of McSorley's performance against the Buccaneers, and another solid outing might just cement Blough as QB3 in Arizona moving forward, though Kingsbury wasn't willing to go that far. 

“I wouldn’t say that. Like I said, I want to see what he can do with a full week and just kind of go from there," he said. 

All athletes respond differently to injuries, but the Cardinals don't expect Murray to be ready for the start of 2023. 

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