Steve Keim: Kyler Murray works, but his attention to detail and film study can improve
The Cardinals infamously placed an independent study addendum in Kyler Murray‘s contract last summer. It required the quarterback to spend at least four hours per week on his own, without distraction, to study game material.
After the homework clause received backlash after it became public, the Cardinals announced they were removing it.
It nonetheless prompted an obvious question about Murray’s work ethic.
Former General Manager Steve Keim was the one who drafted Murray first overall and gave him a massive contract extension that originally included the study clause.
No longer with the team, Keim addressed Murray during an appearance on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast. Keim reiterated what right tackle Kelvin Beachum said last month about Murray needing “to grow up a little bit.”
“He still needs to grow. [Beachum’s comments are] not slanted toward [Murray’s] character,” Keim said on the podcast, via arizonasports.com. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s a good kid, has a good smile, has a nice way about him. I think it’s like anything: Guys have to continue to learn what it’s going to take to be great. Does he know what Tom Brady and Peyton Manning know of what it takes to be great? No.
“Does he work? He does work. I think it’s just that side of the game — the film study, the attention to detail part that he can continue to improve upon, and I think he will. Kyler’s a proud guy, man. He doesn’t want to lose and he doesn’t want to let people down.”
Murray, 25, is working his way back from a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear that ended his 2022 season prematurely. He twice has made the Pro Bowl but has led the Cardinals to only one postseason game, where Murray played the worst game of his career.
“You’ve got to think he’s headed in the right direction,” Keim said. “I just thought he kept getting better and better and better. There’s just some times of inconsistency with him.
“Obviously, the height hurts him at times, seeing over the line and processing and seeing the field. But at the same time, he’s just a tremendous talent. The stuff he does, you see in practice and games, it’s off the charts.
Steve Keim: Kyler Murray works, but his attention to detail and film study can improve originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
