Keep an Eye on This Factor in Arizona Cardinals' Joint Practice

The Arizona Cardinals will hold their joint practice with the Denver Broncos on Thursday, in preparation for their preseason matchup on Saturday night.

The Cardinals are fresh off a win in week one over the Kansas City Chiefs, and are looking to make some progress ahead of the second preseason matchup of the year.

Arizona is not alone in their joint practice endeavor. 22 of 32 teams will participate in joint practices this week.

With that in mind, CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan took a look at each joint practice, and gave one item to keep an eye on for each team participating.

"Joint practices are all the rage in the NFL these days. While fans can argue that it hurts the preseason product because all the stars get most of their work done during these sessions, teams view this as an invaluable piece of their preparation for the regular season," Sullivan wrote.

"There, they can better simulate specific situations while going up against a true opponent."

So what's the most important factor at play for the Cardinals? Surprise, surprise, it involves Arizona's franchise QB.

Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is Item to Watch

The question: How does Kyler Murray look vs. stout Broncos defense?

"Even though Murray completed all but one of his eight throws in Arizona's preseason opener, the miss was a doozy. After rolling out to his left, Murray set his feet, delivered a throw intended for Marvin Harrison Jr., but it was way short and picked off," Sullivan wrote.

"The inability to get the ball down the field was alarming. How alarming it may be could be determined by whether or not he can rebound against a very good Broncos defense during the joint practice."

Murray came under significant fire for that mistake. Murray himself knows the mistake was poor, as does the Cardinals' coaching staff. That will clearly be something they look to avoid going forward.

Just what that means for Murray going forward may be significant or insignificant. It's a mistake the signal-caller said he was glad happened in preseason rather than a game that counted.

Regardless, all eyes will be on the 28-year-old signal caller. A player who has already been scrutinized every step of the way may have an uphill battle in the eyes of the fans, but Arizona's coaching staff remains bullish on Murray.

Still, week two of the preseason will offer plenty of intriguing looks.

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