Byron Murphy Jr. shines against former Arizona Cardinals teammates in joint practice

EAGAN, Minn. — Byron Murphy Jr. was the hometown kid who was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and got to play in the NFL just a few miles from where he grew up. Then this past offseason, he left the Cardinals in free agency after four seasons to sign with the Minnesota Vikings.

By the looks of Wednesday, when the Cardinals and Vikings practiced against each other at the Vikings facility outside Minneapolis and St. Paul, Murphy couldn't wait to go against those former teammates who are still Cardinals. He was a force on defense for Minnesota.

Murphy, spotlighted in one-on-one passing drills against Cardinals No. 1 wide receiver Hollywood Brown, jumped in front of Brown after matching him stride for stride and intercepted a pass intended for Brown. The former Scottsdale Saguaro star broke up at least three other throws to receivers he was covering, another to Brown and one to Rondale Moore.

"Obviously just to go compete against the guys I came into the league with, those are my guys, my brothers, I talk to them every single day," Murphy said. "So just to come on the grass and look at them across in a different jersey is kind of different, but you know, it's fun for me to come out and compete against them."

After his interception, Murphy punted the ball out to another field in celebration.

"That was just something that just happened, just the energy ... so I had to do something," Murphy said.

Murphy's former teammates were happy to see him again, albeit in purple. Murphy had five interceptions and five fumble recoveries in his time as a Cardinal, including a memorable 62-yard fumble recovery and return for a touchdown in overtime to stun the Las Vegas Raiders 29-23 in Week 2 of last season.

"Definitely someone who we relied on, kind of knowing where all the little places were, or he would always know certain people to help us out or even just in the DB room, his energy, the type of person he was, just a great guy, great all around guy," Cardinals safety Budda Baker said. "I was lucky to have him as one of my teammates in college. He's continuing to grow, continues to be a great guy, continuing to ball out on the football field."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Byron Murphy Jr. had a big day against his former Cardinals teammates