Colt McCoy ‘grateful’ to get back to work with Cardinals, Kyler Murray

Grateful.

That’s the term Arizona Cardinals quarterback Colt McCoy continually kept going back to Monday following a new two-year deal.

He’s grateful to return to the Valley. He’s grateful to run it back with a team he feels is close to breaking through.

And he’s grateful to do so with quarterback Kyler Murray.

“I’m thankful that we get to work together again,” McCoy said. “We have a great working relationship. Cam Turner, our quarterbacks coach, is awesome. He’s right there with us. (Head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s) in there a lot. I’m glad to keep that continuity there. It’s been a good offseason so far.

“Our relationship is great at work and is great off the field,” McCoy added. “We’re in a little bit different phase of life. … I’m busy with my kids and spending time with them. He’s training and working out, throwing the football. He’s a stud and we talk enough and I think both of us are looking forward to getting back this spring and attacking a few things that we felt like we need to get better at and we’re all good.”

McCoy more than earned his one-year deal last season as another voice for Murray to bounce things off of in addition to going 2-1 as the team’s starter. With McCoy in the quarterbacks room in 2021, Murray posted a career high in passing percentage (69.2%) and dropped his interception total down from 12 to 10.

McCoy got a front row seat into how Murray operates. And while reports have come out this offseason painting a picture of frustration coming from both Murray and the Cardinals over how the season ended, McCoy feels like Murray is on the right path.

“He’s just finished his third year in the NFL, I would say that his arrow is pointing up,” McCoy said. “Rookie of the Year, he’s made two Pro Bowls, the guy’s extremely, extremely talented. I’m grateful to be able to work with him. I know how hard it was for me my first three years in the NFL, to handle all the things that come with being a franchise quarterback and being in the NFL. And I think Kyler’s handled it tremendously. And I think he’s just going to continue to get better and I’m thankful I get to be in the same room with him.

“He’s a super competitor, He wants to win. He works hard. And I think it kind of sets the tone for our whole team. And the good thing about here is we have … a great mix of veteran guys and younger guys that (general manager Steve Keim) has put together and I think there’s a lot of respect through the whole locker room about who we have on this team. I don’t think the goals are confused at all. The goal is to go out there and win and we know that so I think we’re all good.”

Now that the contract is signed and the ink is dry, McCoy can get back to focusing solely on football this offseason.

That is, after he wraps up a coaching stint for his daughter’s first-grade soccer team and picks up a thing or two along the way.

“Learning the rules of soccer, I need to work on that,” McCoy said. “We didn’t have soccer where I grew up. I think the sport is awesome. … It’s all her first grade class at her school and so they’re holding hands and scoring goals. It’s pretty cute, but they’re competitors. I told them attitude and effort, that’s what I care about.”

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