When it was brought up to Kliff Kingsbury that Kyler Murray was frustrated after Sunday's season-opening loss, the coach cut off the question.
"Have you ever seen him not frustrated after a loss postgame?" Kingsbury said with a smile. "Is that new? I've seen him frustrated after wins, too."
The quarterback acknowledged he can get sideways even after a win – "If (expletive) feels ugly, you're not satisfied about the game. That almost feels worse," he said – but it is how the frustration manifests itself after a loss that makes Kingsbury optimistic.
"I think he's done a much better job of talking through things, not just getting mad," Kingsbury said. "He's pulling guys aside and not just getting mad, saying, 'This is what I was expecting and this is why I was mad.' That's a big step. As a young player, he had to come in without training wheels and we threw him in and he had to figure it out."
Losing is what has pushed Murray to change his outlook. That he makes plain.
"You can only lose so much until it starts to boil over and stuff like that," Murray said.
But it's also understanding time and place and level of football. In college, one loss could knock a team from national championship hopes. It's not the same in the NFL, where you just have to make the postseason to have a chance and even the best teams will have a handful of defeats.
"There is a fine line in taking what happened and taking the experience and using that to get better next week," Murray said. "Coaching guys. Where did we mess up? Where can I get better? What was he thinking, what was I thinking? And grow that way.
"Every game matters to me, but you can't just be down in the dumps. You've got to get over it."
Kingsbury said Murray had that on display Wednesday, the Cardinals' first practice after their 44-21 loss to the Chiefs. Murray was making his presence known, emphasizing the need to make corrections on plays that weren't right.
"He knows it starts with him," Kingsbury said. "The organization made it abundantly clear 'You're the face of the franchise and everything is going to go through you.' "
Murray seems to understand that.
"Since I've been here, this organization, we've gotten better each year but it's not the standard to how I'm used to playing and how I'm used to doing things on the football field," Murray said. "Closed mouth don't get fed, that's how I see it. So any way I can give my energy, give my mental (advice) to a young guy or someone who may not be doing the right thing, I'm going to do it."
PRACTICE SQUAD MOVES
The Cardinals made a number of practice-squad moves on Wednesday morning, re-signing wide receiver JaVonte Payton and offensive lineman Koda Martin, as well as signing wide receiver Jeff Cotton. To make room they put wide receiver Victor Bolden and offensive lineman Rashaad Coward on the practice squad Injured Reserve.
