Frustrated Kyler Murray after loss says Cardinals ‘laid an egg’ vs. Dolphins
Nov 8, 2020, 6:46 PM
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) scrambles as Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Raekwon Davis (98) pursues during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The Arizona Cardinals’ postgame Zoom video conference turned the video back on for its last speaker, and there sat Kyler Murray following a rough 34-31 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
The opening question was a general one on the defeat, and the quarterback didn’t look like he had mentally prepared himself yet to even answer a question, let alone a handful.
After a few seconds, he asked for the assembled media on the call to hold on.
He sat there contemplating. Another 10 seconds go by. Murray makes a few noises with his mouth as he churns through his brain for some thoughts.
Ten more seconds pass before:
“Just gotta be better.” RELATED STORIES
He answered the next question more quickly when he was asked about the squandered opportunity to make up ground in the NFC West after a loss for the Seattle Seahawks.
“I mean, me personally I wasn’t really worried about first place in the division. I don’t think anyone should be worried about that—“, Murray said, seemingly stopping himself before he was about to say an expletive that usually follows.
He picked up where he left off after a pause.
“I don’t think anybody should be worried about that. We, uh, we came out here and laid an egg. Um … I don’t know … That’s … I don’t know. We gotta be better.”
Murray went on to be short with his answers, even when asked about his teammates playing well, a question he normally welcomes with an elongated answer.
That wasn’t happening on Sunday, even after Murray had perhaps his best game as a Cardinal, going 21-of-26 through the air for 283 yards and three touchdowns, plus a career-high 106 yards rushing with another touchdown.
Murray became the first quarterback in NFL history to ever lose when throwing over 25 times with a passer rating better than 150, per Pro-Football-Reference.
Perhaps he was frustrated with his own fumble on the first possession of the game, one Miami returned for a touchdown. But given the way Arizona’s defense underperformed and some head-scratching decisions by head coach Kliff Kingsbury, that’s unlikely.
“I had some bad play-calls that kept us out of the end zones. I think that was it, me screwing him up on those,” Kingsbury said before Murray spoke to reporters.
When Murray was asked what was upsetting him the most, he took 20 seconds for his final answer of the day.
“We lost.”
