Kyler Murray never struggled much before he got to the NFL, and he never suffered a serious injury either.
His rookie year, "I was (expletive) miserable after losses," the Cardinals quarterback said, and after watching hours of old video of himself he saw some great plays but a good many where he wondered why he was doing what he was doing.
Yet Murray enters his sixth NFL season – beginning Sunday in Buffalo – a better player and person for enduring such things. He is happy and confident. The Cardinals are still climbing their way to contention under coach Jonathan Gannon, but their QB is where he needs to be after seeing where he has been.
"There is only one winner at the end of the year -- we're all chasing that," Murray said. "You've got to fail. All those are lessons that I have taken in. That one playoff game (in 2021) that I have taken in, I know the next time I get to the playoffs I know what not to do and how I felt. It's a blessing to be in this position."
The Cardinals have been around since 1920 in the NFL and yet only three quarterbacks have lasted as starters as long as Murray's six seasons. Jim Hart had 15 as the starter in the 1960s and 1970s. Neil Lomax had seven in the span of the 1980s. Jake Plummer lasted exactly six seasons before leaving as a free agent.
Murray surpassed both Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer in franchise starts long ago.
"I would love to end my career here with multiple Super Bowls, MVPs, and all the accolades," Murray said. "I have never questioned my abilities or anything like that. You never know when this game might be taken away from you, but I am taking it one day at a time."
Murray, as usual, is the key.
He fits well into the Drew Petzing offense, and acknowledged he feels he can be himself in such a system. That showed in the final month of last season when James Conner dominated on the ground and Murray looked sharp – and that was without the services of talented rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
The unit has looked how Murray has wanted in training camp, and coach Jonathan Gannon has been pleased with his QB – as he has noted multiple times. Still, "Sundays is where you get measured," Gannon said.
In some ways it feels like a new start for Murray, except it isn't. He did have eight games to play under Petzing's system a season ago. His ACL was healed by then. Oh, and there is the reality that for Murray, this has been one continuous thought since returning from his injury.
"Football has been on my mind this whole offseason," Murray said. "It always is but last year, being hurt and having to rehab and stuff like that, (I tried) not to get too far away from the game mentally.
"I have had this on my mind for a long time, what I want to accomplish, what I want this team to accomplish, so it doesn't feel brand new."
Any player in his second season back from an ACL will be healthier, and Murray acknowledged he was in that place. Otherwise, Petzing said, "he's been the same player, the same person, the same teammate" as the guy who ended the season.
"He does a great job of turning off from being in the locker room to going on the field and being very serious and the quarterback and leader that we need him to be," Harrison said. "I admire that with him."
There are no struggles in front of him. That's why Murray said he is happy.
"You're free," Murray said. "I love what I do."
