Arizona Cardinals head coach praises Kyler Murray’s attention to detail

While Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray hasn’t lived to the expectations of a former number one overall pick, he’s still in the desert and he is still the presumptive starting quarterback for this football team when cleared to play. Despite being unable to practice in camp, it hasn’t stopped Murray from paying close attention to what the team has been doing, and he’s often seen standing alongside head coach Jonathan Gannon.

This is the best sign we could have asked for, as when you look at the most successful NFL teams today, one common denominator stands out: They have a coach and a quarterback on good terms with one another. And it wasn’t something we always saw with Murray and former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, something that came to a standstill last season. 

And Gannon has taken notice of Murray’s willingness to participate in any way he can, even if the quarterback can’t suit up and take part in team drills. Here is the tidbit from Gannon's interview that jumped out at me the most:

"“He’s kind of a ball junkie. He wants to understand the why of, ‘Why is Rallis doing that? Why is Marco playing it that way? Why is this going on? Why would you call that right there?’ … I try to educate him on those things. He wants to know defense. Good quarterbacks do and he’s very intelligent."

- Jonathan Gannon

Source: Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon & QB Kyler Murray are constantly talking football by Bob McManaman, AZ Central

Arizona Cardinals head coach praises Murray

When the Cardinals were looking for Kingsbury’s successor, I said way back in January and February that the new coach had to be willing to work with Murray. So far, it appears general manager Monti Ossenfort found that coach in Jonathan Gannon, despite the fact that defense is Gannon’s niche while ironically enough, quarterback was supposed to be Kingsbury’s. 

Whether this will translate to the playing field when Murray is cleared to play, we won’t know until we see the former top pick in action. But first impressions mean a lot, and the first impression that we are getting between the head coach and quarterback couldn’t be any better. 

If Murray and Gannon can build rapport when the games count, then perhaps Murray will finally live up to that monster contract extension he signed a year ago. And if that’s the case, the Arizona Cardinals can hold off on shopping for a new potential franchise quarterback with one of those two presumably high draft picks in 2024.