Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon on Kyler Murray: 'He is who I thought he was going to be'
Jonathan Gannon evoked images of Dennis Green on Wednesday when he was asked what he learned about Kyler Murray during the quarterback’s season debut in a 25-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The new Arizona Cardinals coach borrowed a famous line from the former Cardinals coach, who in 2006 following a 24-23 loss to the Chicago Bears in which Arizona blew a 20-0 halftime lead, went on a 45-second rant, and smacked the podium before storming out of the interview room.
“He is, what is the one there? He is who I thought he was going to be?” Gannon said, vaguely recalling Green’s meltdown. “I like that. What is it? They are what they thought they’d be or something? I don’t even know who even said that. I’m not a historian. But I liked that.
“I kind of thought that he was going to be pretty even keel and that’s what it was.”
After completing 19 of 32 passes for 249 yards and rushing six times for 33 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown and a huge 13-yard, third-down scramble on Arizona’s game-winning drive, Murray was back on the practice field Wednesday preparing himself for Game 2 of his comeback.
It resumes Sunday when the Cardinals (2-8) travel to Houston to face the Texans (5-4), who have won back-to-back games with last-second finishes. The Cardinals haven’t won back-to-back games since 2021 when they beat the Seahawks and Bears sandwiched around a bye in Week 12.
If they hope to beat the Texans, Murray and the Cardinals will have to navigate their way in and around and through coach DeMeco Ryans’ defense. They might only be ranked 21st overall in the league, but the Texans have held opponents to 17 points or fewer in three of their wins and four of their games overall.
“Fast, physical, violent,” Gannon said of Houston’s defense. “The scheme’s extremely sound, they don’t give you a lot of air, there’s not a lot of catch and run, the fit the run very sound, they tackle well. … They make you earn everything.”
The good news is that not many teams have a dynamic playmaker at quarterback like Murray, who has completely recovered from a torn ACL and showed he still has incredible speed when he tucks the football and runs.
“A lot of guys can’t do what he does — extension of plays with his legs,” Gannon said. “He’s special at it. That helps your team.”
Asked what jumped out to him about Murray in his first game back, Gannon said, “That there was no restrictions, honestly. He kind of looked like who I thought he was going to look like, probably a little better.
“I talked about all the lead changes, but some good drives that ended in touchdowns, some three and outs, a sack, we went backwards once, and obviously the last drive — cool, calm and collected — and I appreciate that.”
Murray, who is 3-0 in games against teams from his home state of Texas (2-0 vs. the Cowboys, 1-0 vs. the Texans), said last week’s win was just a start.
"I'm just trying to get better each week," he said. "I thought it started off solid. There were some misses here and there that obviously we'd love to have back. But for the first came back, I felt comfortable out there. It didn't feel sped up or anything like that, so it was good to be back in the mix."
Murray said he wasn't sure what to expect, but his ramp-up to this point makes him feel secure in his game.
"I expect to go out there and make plays and do my thing," he said. "I think there's a lot of room to grow and improve, but it was a good start and I think we all can get better."
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said Murray’s first game back was a step in the right direction, but “a really good first step.”
“Certainly, we felt very confident in putting him out there with the rest of the team and what we were going to be able to do, but every week in this league presents a new challenge,” he said. “You’ve got to start over, you’ve got to get back in the lab, you’ve got to make sure you’re putting together a good plan, you’ve got to make sure guys are working on improving in other areas so that focus I don’t think is going to change.”
Gannon and Petzing wouldn’t divulge if they plan on opening the playbook up a little more for Murray this week.
“We really didn’t hold anything back,” Petzing said. “I think you saw him do everything he’s done in his career show up at a high-level off-schedule plays, making plays with his feet, accuracy and arm strength, really all of it. So, we didn’t hold a ton back from a scheme standpoint and I don’t expect that to change moving forward.”
If there are any adjustments Murray needs to make, Petzing said, it’s probably just getting more comfortable calling plays in and out of the huddle. He is learning a completely new offense, after all, and some of the terminology is much different than what he was used to during his first four seasons.
“It’s a new language and that’s probably the biggest transition for him,” Petzing said, adding, “It’s like going from English to Spanish or Spanish to Italian. You’re all saying the same things a lot of times, but remembering exactly how to communicate it in the language you’re talking to your teammates I think at times can be a little tricky.
“I think that’s probably the thing that’s going to continue to improve the most as he just does it more and more.”
Murray’s on-field chemistry with his receivers, especially good friend and former college teammate Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, should continue to improve down the stretch. His progressions and checkdowns and ability to read coverages is sure to get better, too.
One element of his game that already looks to be quintessential Murray is his scrambling ability and the cat-quick speed, which was on full display during that fourth-quarter, 13-yard run for a first down. According to NFL NexGen Stats, Murray covered 74 yards on the play and hit a top speed of 20.17 mph.
What was Gannon’s reaction during that run?
“Yeah. Wow,” he said.
And Petzing’s reaction?
“Probably just like a blank stare and a little bit of amazement,” he said. “… Once he got the first, there was definitely a moment of like, ‘Wow!’ ”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kyler Murray expects to 'make plays and do my thing' for Cardinals
