Kyler Murray must be able to protect himself in order to play

TEMPE — Kyler Murray doesn’t need to run.

The Arizona Cardinals quarterback said so himself following Wednesday’s practice, a day of work the signal caller was not a part of as he tends to a sprained left ankle.

He does, however, need to be able to properly protect himself if he has any chance of suiting up Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

“If I have to [run], I have to but at the same time, there’s a difference between running and protecting yourself,” Murray said. “You can’t just be a sitting duck in the pocket, so we’ll take it one day at a time.”

The Murray of years past might have seen it a little differently.

The signal caller made it known this offseason that he only wants to use his legs out of luxury, saving his stamina and energy for the passing game while still running when he needs to.

The quarterback hasn’t just talked about it, he’s been about it, opting to pass over taking it himself despite an open field ahead of him on numerous instances this season.

The numbers back up the eye test.

After rushing 51 times for 279 yards and two touchdowns through the first eight games of his rookie season, Murray saw a big jump over that same span in Year 2 with 76 attempts for 543 yards and eight scores.

This season, however, those numbers have been cut down drastically, as Murray has ran 49 times for 174 yards and three touchdowns.

Murray’s pass-first mindset and the team’s running game churning along without a heavy influence on his part has only helped save the tread on the tires.

“You’ve seen the offense. Like he (Murray) said, his legs are a luxury,” head coach Kliff Kingsbury said Wednesday. “He’s a pocket passer now. I think he can handle it well. He’s done a great job from the pocket — great completion percentage, protecting the ball.

“We feel good about him being able to operate even if he can’t have his full array of weapons.”

While some of Murray’s scrambles have been highlight-reel material, even those have taken a bit of a backseat. Murray has scrambled out of 4.5% of his dropbacks this season, the lowest in his career.

He posted an 8% mark in 2020 on top of his added usage in the running game after scrambling on 4.7% of his dropbacks his rookie year. Some of that is credit to an improved offensive line, some of that is due to Murray’s continued evolution.

From the sounds of Kingsbury on Wednesday, Murray’s status likely could come down to a game-time decision on Sunday.

Given Murray’s maturation on and the off the field, the head coach could very well still give Murray the green light even if he misses the entire week of practice. It’s on the quarterback to get the work in between the ears, however.

“No doubt. He is the type of player with his ability and understanding of the system now, as long as he’s getting the mental reps, we feel good about him going out there and executing,” Kingsbury said.

EXTRA POINT

– Kingsbury on determining which players don’t need practice and those that do coming off an injury:

“I would say it depends on the player, no question. There are certain guys you know can show up and get it done and some guys need the entire week, the entire process. It’s definitely case-by-case.”

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