Most Arizona Cardinals fans don’t realize that starting quarterback Kyler Murray had a slight foot injury in the loss to the Tennessee Titans last Sunday. That is probably because he re-entered the game after missing two plays.
But now, the injury is concerning the coaching staff. Murray is not practicing, and his status is considered to be “day-to-day” according to Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon.
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With the injury, Murray was sent to the locker room
for evaluation after a lost fumble on a third-and-12 with 4:57 left in the third quarter at Tennessee’s 20-yard line. The turnover eliminated Arizona from getting any points. That drive was 13 plays for 51 yards and took off 7:52 of clock.
At the time, the Cardinals were dominating the contest and leading 21-6. More points here, plus the touchdown called back on the Emari Demercado fumble, would have padded the scoreboard into the blowout category.
On the play, Murray was in shotgun formation. As he stood at the 26-yard line, right guard Jon Gaines put one hand behind his head, then all of a sudden, center Hjalte Froholdt snapped the ball. The loose football hit Murray right in the facemask, which became a live ball. Titans DE Dre’Mont Jones then jumped on the fumble as Murray and RT Jonah jumped into the fray to get the ball.
Murray got up from the pile and shook his foot before briefly grabbing his right shin before walking to the sidelines and immediately went into the blue tent before going into the locker room. Backup QB Jacoby Brissett played two snaps before Murray returned and finished the game.
Did OC Drew Petzing begin to call a more vanilla offense after Murray returned? When asked, he said:
“It didn’t have a huge effect on (playcalling). But there’s definitely things on the call sheet that you’re saying, ‘All right, we’ve gotta kinda backburner that’ or, ‘We’ve gotta stay away from that.’ That’s definitely part of when a guy’s dealing with something like that.”
Going into the final quarter, it did appear that the Arizona offense was playing more conservatively and stopped trying to win the game, but not to lose it instead.
Gannon told reporters at Wednesday’s practice regarding this Sunday’s game about Murray’s availability on Sunday:
“If he’s healthy enough to play, he’ll play.”
If Murray is unable to play against the Indianapolis Colts, Gannon stated that Brissett would become the starter.
“He’s a true pro. The quarterback position’s the hardest position in sports and to know that you’re one play away from your role changing, you really do gotta be on the details, like you’re the starter. He loves to practice, he loves to prepare, he loves to play.”
The Cardinals play on the road this Sunday, October 12th, broadcast on FOX with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff (Eastern). Currently, Arizona is 2-3-0 and in fourth place in the NFL West Division, while Indy is 4-1-0 and shares first place in the AFC South Division with Jacksonville. The Colts have scored 163 points, ranked #2 behind Detroit.
In other news, Arizona officially placed TE Tip Reiman on IR and inked TE Nick Muse to the practice squad, cutting S Patrick McMorris in a corresponding move. The Cardinals now have an opening on the 53-man roster.
