Kyler Murray Mastering Mental Reps During Training Camp
Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray has been fairly quiet this offseason, though he's been hard at work trying to rehab an ACL/meniscus injury suffered last December.
We've heard from Murray on various social media platforms while also getting a closer look at his rehab during the team's most recent "Flight Plan" series.
However, we never got the opportunity to hear directly from Murray himself until today. The Cardinals completed their first week of training camp, and Arizona's franchise quarterback took the podium afterwards.
"It's not a bad thing to have to sit back and watch, per se. [I'm] trying to make the most out of this and make it a positive deal. I feel good. Getting better each and every day, taking it one day at a time," Murray said.
"Just trying to be with my teammates right now and just learn as much as possible before I do stuff on the field."
Murray has been on the field with various offensive coaches with a radio for each of the practices to hear the play relayed through the headset. Under a brand new coaching staff which includes offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, mental reps are just as important as the physical ones Murray has yet to take.
"I mean, it's the only thing I can do - try to get the mental reps, try to be able to spit out the calls as much as possible, and just do as many things as possible before it's actually real live bullets and I'm the one out there," he said.
"It is a new system. It is a lot more wordy than we've been accustomed to, it's getting there though.
"I don't feel behind it all. I'm picking it up pretty fast, pretty well. I think the coaches would say so as well. We're doing things to allow me to learn faster. So I wasn't taking the reps mentally and just spitting it out at home in the mirror, to the coaches or whatever it is in the meetings, then yeah I'd probably be behind. But the fact that we're on it and we're constantly doing it, it's been easy."
Murray continues to wait and learn from behind the scenes while Colt McCoy leads the starting offense. Clayton Tune appears to be in line to back McCoy up after a few training camp practices.
Petzing brings a new offense that will feature Murray working under center, utilizing (in theory) play-action far more efficiently and keeping defenses honest, something Kliff Kingsbury's offense wasn't exactly known for in the past.
"It's been great so far. We're actually establishing a run game, I believe we'll be able to run the ball a lot better, which will only be a weapon for us to be able to get under center and mix it up [so the offense] won't be as predictable. If you can run the ball, it makes everything a lot easier," said Murray on the new offense.
The timetable for Murray's return is still unclear, though Arizona's franchise quarterback continues to prepare himself both mentally and physically for action.
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