That doesn’t mean Murray can’t be Murray, can’t be the QB with the scary threat of running at any moment. That was baked into the offense once Murray came back, and it stands to reason that option will only grow as he and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing have been able to do real field work in recent weeks.
Murray’s knowledge of the offense looks like a veteran QB who is in the second year with the playbook. “He sees what is going on and knows his answers,” Gannon said, and Murray tried the best he could to describe his comfort level.
“Confidence and understanding where to go with the ball and knowing what (the coaches) are doing, because I have been in the system a year, when you feel like that, the sky is the limit,” Murray said. “I’ve played QB my whole life, and when you’re at that point – and I really can’t explain it – it’s a good feeling.”
He’s got new weapons like Marvin Harrison Jr. and returning ascending pass catchers like Trey McBride and Michael Wilson. That doesn’t even include the running game with James Conner.
His expectation? To win the Super Bowl. “I don’t play for any other reason,” Murray said, and while it isn’t a prediction of any kind, it underscores the drive Murray has always had.
“His will to win matches what I think it should look like,” Gannon said. “It’s a full-time process, it’s a full-time thing that is in his brain.”
The offseason has been about work, because that’s what Murray likes to do. But, chronicled in part by social media, it’s clear Murray has also made the effort to bond with teammates, at one point taking some to Oklahoma for a visit to his alma mater and an NBA playoff game, and another time going to a Diamondbacks baseball game with a handful of co-workers.
“He’s a leader,” said Conner, one of the Oklahoma travel companions. “I say that because he’s coming into it. When I got to Arizona (in 2021) it was kind of, ‘Who is the leader here?’ Sometimes that’s the product of the environment. That’s no longer the environment here. He’s making the effort to bring the guys close.”
Center Hjalte Froholdt – one of the baseball game invitees – was just happy to get an offseason together so he could “feel the rhythm” of snapping to Murray. That didn’t happen last offseason, when Froholdt was working as a starting center for the first time in his career himself.
Offseason work is limited in what it can produce. The work done is not true football, not with a lack of pads or contact. But it has value, in both what Murray can improve upon and on his mood. It’s a good time to be Kyler.
“It’s felt like one of the best offseasons I’ve had in a long time,” he said. “It makes a difference when I’m out there.”
