As the Cardinals wrapped up their final practice Friday before taking off for Buffalo and Sunday's regular season opener against the Bills, passing game coordinator Drew Terrell pondered the team's identity.
"We've got to out hit people and out-think people, that's our mantra for the team," Terrell said. "Guys embrace that and there's definitely a chippiness, an eagerness, a grittiness with the way that the guys practice and the way they bounce around."
Year Two under coach Jonathan Gannon is about to begin. The Cardinals added pieces like wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, and bulked up the defensive line room. They extended key players like center Hjalte Froholdt and linebacker Zaven Collins in an effort to build toward the future.
The goal is to contend for the postseason for the first time since 2021, but that's not where the focus is heading into Sunday.
"I don't want to think too product-related and want to think more process-related -- not result," wide receiver Michael Wilson said. "Obviously we want to win the week and obviously win the game. Right now, the expectation is just to win each day, prepare the best we can to put ourselves in the best position possible to win game.
"Coming from JG, coming from Kyler Murray, we expect to win every single time we're on the field. Whether that's a one-on-one with (tackle) Paris (Johnson Jr.), a ball thrown my way, every time I have an opportunity to make a play, I want to win. That exudes to the whole team any time we touch a field, we expect to win."
Murray's eight games of action last year, mixed in with the offseason workouts on- and off-campus, provided a taste of what the Cardinals offense can look like with Murray at the helm.
But Murray scoffed at the idea 2024 is pivotal for himself or the team.
"I don't really like (it) when people say (expletive) like that because -- excuse my language -- it doesn't make sense," Murray said. "As athletes every season's pivotal. Every season we go out there and have to try to prove ourselves right. It's not, 'Oh, we're going to take this season off." Nah, I don't look at it that way."
That doesn't mean emotions aren't ramping up. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis found his adrenaline spiking while he was planning for QB Josh Allen and the Bills.
It's apropos that the energy has been felt throughout the offseason.
"It (feels) just like we started camp yesterday and we're sitting here today, but you've got to maximize every day, and every second counts, but it's a fun week," Gannon said. "You haven't played in a while, so you always got some emotion. You get a little bit of nervousness. You might have some anxiety. Anxiety, I think, has a negative connotation to it, but I don't think it's negative."
There are still 16 games after the one in Buffalo. A long season awaits.
"It's a little bit of a quiet before the storm feeling," Terrell said. "But there's this pit and a fire in your stomach to get ready and go compete that you can't replicate."
