Kyler Murray calls fallout over his contract “disrespectful” in fiery press conference
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, fresh off his contract extension with the team, held a surprise press conference at training camp where he lashed out at the fallout over the film study clause in his deal. Murray referred to the uproar over the clause in his contract as “disrespectful” and described it as “almost a joke.”
Social media and the football world both reacted when the Addendum to his contract, which called for four hours of weekly “independent film study” per week in the regular season, was reported after his new deal was signed.
Murray, in meeting with the media, fired back at the reaction, listing his accomplishments during his entire football career and stating “[t]hose things you can’t accomplish if you don’t prepare the right way and take the game serious:”
Kyler Murray lists his accolades and accomplishments since high school. "Those things you can't accomplish if you don't prepare the right way and take the game serious."
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) July 28, 2022
Murray described himself as a “student” of the game, who is passionate about the sport and takes himself and the job very seriously:
Kyler Murray on narrative that he doesn't study: "To think I can accomplish everything that I've accomplished in my career and not be a student of the game and not have that passion and not take this serious, is disrespectful. It's almost a joke."
— Tyler Dragon (@TheTylerDragon) July 28, 2022
Murray did not address questions regarding the clause, and he further declined to answer a question regarding his thoughts on the Cardinals including it in his contract.
Murray’s ability to create explosive plays inside and outside the pocket, with both his legs and his arm, is a huge reason why the Cardinals felt comfortable giving him this big contract extension. In particular, his ability to attack downfield in the passing game stands out among NFL passers.
According to charting data from Pro Football Focus, Murray was one of the best deep passers in the NFL last season, posting an Adjusted Completion Percentage of 54.9% on throws over 20 yards in 2021, second only to Tua Tagovailoa. On those 71 attempts — which was sixth-most in the NFL last season — Murray completed 35 passes for 1,125 yards and nine touchdowns, against just three interceptions.
While some of those throws came with Murray outside of the pocket, some did not. You also saw plays like this one against the Indianapolis Colts, where the quarterback stood in the pocket in the face of pressure and delivered a perfect throw on a go route to A.J. Green:
Or you can take this example, which finds Murray beating edge pressure by climbing the pocket, and dropping in a perfect throw to Kirk as he crossed from right-to-left deep downfield:
Based on his comments today, you might expect the quarterback to argue that film study had a role in both of those explosive plays.
