Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury appears to be expanding Kyler Murray’s preseason responsibilities, with interesting results.
Kingsbury had said before Arizona’s preseason opener that Murray would get the chance to call some plays during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The coach confirmed after the game that Murray had gotten his chance in the fourth quarter, but the quarterback did not find much success.
“It looked about six,” Kingsbury said in his postgame press conference when asked how many plays Murray had called. “I think we went three-and-out on both of them, so less than we anticipated.”
Kingsbury made clear, however, that Murray’s efforts were actually solid despite the lack of results.
“He called a couple really nice plays that just didn’t work out. Had some guys open,” Kingsbury added. “He does a good job with it. I’ve been impressed.”
Murray’s brief play-calling stint has been interesting because of some of what happened surrounding the quarterback’s new contract. Murray faced extra scrutiny over the inclusion of a since-removed study clause, leading to questions about his work ethic. After that, Kingsbury had talked a bit about letting Murray call plays to demonstrate how difficult a job it is.
Obviously, Murray likely won’t be calling plays in any scenario once the regular season starts. Still, it is interesting that Kingsbury really seems intent on letting him learn from the experience.
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