Kyler Murray discusses knee injury, his rehab and unknown return to the Arizona Cardinals

When you’re on the road to recovery, like Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee last December, the journey back is full of “firsts.”

There are the first steps and the first time putting your full weight on the leg. There’s the first trip to the weight room and the first attempt at jumping, running and trying to make a cut. They’re all baby steps really, but that’s where it starts and it’s just as much of a mental hurdle as a physical one.

“This whole thing is kind of mental,” Murray said Saturday at Cardinals’ training camp, meeting with reporters for the first time since the injury. “Even the first time I bent my knee. The PT (personal trainer) had to bend it for me ’cause I was too scared to do it.”

Murray is months into his rehab since undergoing surgery on Jan. 3 and although neither he nor the Cardinals have any sort of definitive timeline for his return to the practice field or the starting lineup, he seems to be in a great place regarding his mind, body, and spirit.

“It’s not a bad thing to have to sit back and watch,” the fifth-year pro said. “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. Just taking it one day at a time, just trying to be with my teammates right now and learn as much as possible before I do step on the field.”

Whenever that day comes, Murray still won’t know how long he’ll have to practice until he’s ready to play.

“No idea,” he said. “I’ve never dealt with this so I couldn’t really tell you.”

Recovery time from such an injury is generally eight to nine months, although some people may recover in as few as six months. For now, he’ll remain on the Cardinals’ Active/Physically Unable to Perform list. He can be activated at any time, but again, there’s no telling when that will happen. Although he’s making strides almost every day during his recovery, he can’t even pinpoint exactly where he is on his rehab program.

“It’s a good question. I have no answer for you,” Murray said. “I’m taking it one day at a time like I said. I don’t have a timetable or whatever.”

When it feels right, he said he’ll know. Until then, veteran Colt McCoy will be Arizona’s starting quarterback under first-year coach Jonathan Gannon and a mostly brand-new coaching staff. Murray won’t rush his return, and neither will the Cardinals, who plan to play it safe.

“I wouldn’t want to go out there and hurt the team or hurt myself,” Murray said. “The advice that I’ve gotten from a lot of people around me is obviously to go when you’re ready. Don’t listen to outside noise. Don’t feel pressure to come back because of this situation or that situation. Whenever you’re ready, you’ll know you’re ready. Obviously, like I said, I haven’t dealt with this, but I feel like when that time comes, I’ll know.”

Privately, some teammates seem convinced Murray will be back sooner than people think. Left tackle D.J. Humphries is one of them and he said he’s been impressed at how hard Murray has been attacking his rehab. Running back James Conner feels the same way.

“He looks incredible. He looks incredible,” Conner said. “From the last time I’ve seen him in late June to what I see now, incredible. He’s been working. … I know he’s never been through something like that before but I’m just so proud of him. The way he’s responded to it, physically what I see his body looks like, having that conversation with where his head is at, where his mindset is at, I’ve got no doubt about Kyler.”

There was plenty of doubt for Murray in the moments when his knee gave out during a non-contact play on Dec. 12 against the visiting New England Patriots. He ran a bootleg out to his right after the snap and was identifying his next move when he went down in pain, instantly fearing the worst.

“It wasn’t anything I’ve ever experienced in the moment,” Murray recalled. “At that point, it’s kind of, ‘Get checked out. OK, what is it? Hope to hear the best news possible.’ And it ends up being what you don’t want it to be. So at that point, yeah, there were thoughts. All the emotions, all the frustrations, stuff like that from throughout the season. It is what it is at that point.

“Then it’s, ‘How do we get better? The surgery. And then what’s the plan from there?’ ”

The initial days afterward and the weeks that followed were full of all different kind of thoughts and emotions. Mostly, Murray said he felt a feeling of helplessness.

“After I got hurt, just laying in bed with (the knee) elevated, it actually didn’t hurt that bad at the time,” he said. “Then you get the surgery, and nobody can really prepare you for the pain or not being able to go to sleep, just not being able to move really and having everybody take care of me pretty much. I really wasn’t ready for that. Everybody tried to warn me about it, but if you haven’t gone through it, you really don’t know what to expect.

“It got better every day, though. That’s a positive. The first two weeks were pretty bad. But it got better.”

Read more: Colt McCoy explains why he didn't throw for one day in practice last week

Although Murray isn’t ready to practice, he’s been picking up the new offense and all of its terminology as best he can, and everyone seems to be pleased with his progress in that department. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said Monday that Murray is fully immersed in every meeting, he’s asking the right questions, and he’s getting valuable mental reps by being on the field during offseason workouts and training camp.

“He’s where he needs to be,” Petzing said, “and we’re doing everything we can within the rules to make sure he’s conceptualizing the offense and understanding it.”

To that end of things, Murray said he doesn’t feel like he’s behind.

“I don’t feel behind at all,” he said. “I think I’m picking it up pretty fast, pretty well. I think the coaches would say so as well. We’re doing things throughout for me to learn faster. If I wasn’t taking the reps mentally and spitting it out at home in the mirror, to the coaches, whatever it is, 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.”

The Cardinals could find themselves in a quandary at some point this season once Murray is able to begin practicing. How, for instance, will they split up practice reps for Murray when they’re also trying to get their other starting quarterback ample reps for that week’s game, be it Colt McCoy or any of the other backups?

“That will be something we’ll have to work through as an organization,” Petzing said, “and you have to do both in a limited amount of time, so it’s going to be being creative, finding time to make sure those guys get the prep they need to play and that Kyler is also coming along so he’s banking as many physical reps as he can prior to hitting the field.”

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However long it takes before that’s ready to happen, it figures to be a monotonous and challenging wait for Kyler Murray.

“It hasn’t been challenging at all,” Murray said. “I get to do what I love every day – play quarterback in the NFL. Did I get hurt? Yeah. Did I experience something that no one wants to experience? Yeah. But it’s nothing for me to get up and work out every day. I was already doing that before I got hurt.

“The fact that now I’m rehabbing a knee? Cool. For me, it’s getting back to who I was and be able to play at a higher level, so I’m excited.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray on his rehab and return to lineup