Cardinals OL Kelvin Beachum Doubles Down on Kyler Murray Comments

PHOENIX -- It wouldn't be an offseason with Arizona Cardinals drama, right? 

The league's annual meeting has all but wrapped up here in the desert, and while we were able to speak with Jonathan Gannon and others, it was right tackle Kelvin Beachum who again made the rounds through social media. 

Earlier in the offseason, Beachum appeared on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM and offered the following on quarterback Kyler Murray, who has been the topic of plenty offseason chatter for different reasons since his arrival to Arizona.

"I didn't say he lacks the leadership, I just think he needs to grow up a little bit. I think if he has the ability and willingness to grow up, he's gonna be just fine. They paid him for a reason. They paid him because of his talent. He has the ability to lead - it's just when you're in that position, we need you to lead more."

That was earlier in the month. Just recently, Beachum doubled down on those comments when he appeared on the Ross Tucker Podcast:

"The thing is I said what I said. I didn't mince what I said. There was no ill will in what I said, and I said the obvious. It's being able to see somebody mature just like you would like to see a player mature from year to year. At some point in a player's life or especially a young player's life -  they take leaps and bounds and I just wanted to see the young man grow up," Beachum said. 

"And I said that. I didn't say it in a - I didn't think it was in a malicious way but you know how it is. Free agency, you got some sound bites. But the question was 'does he lack leadership? Does he have a heart for it?' and I think it's really wrong to try to question a man's heart or question a man's work ethic, especially once they've gotten to the National Football League level, because there's a lot of work to be put in to get here. So there's never been a question of 'can he work?', it's never been a question of his leadership. It's, 'can he do more? And his he willing to do more?' 

"And I would love to see him do more, because he has the ability to do so and he has the keys to the franchise. He's a leader in that regard. They paid him to be a leader, and I want to see that. So I would say the same thing to him that I've said publicly: Grow up, let's find a way to galvanize and find a way to do this thing together."

Full video: